Unit 4 Research Project Assignment

Introduction

The Unit 4 Research Project Assignment which will be looked into for this particular research project is as following: A research into the importance of employee motivation for companies in the travel and tourism industry in terms of the productivity of the company and the best practices for the development of the same

Task 1

1.1 Background of the Research

As a result of various factors in the changing global travel and tourism industry, the necessity of the employee performance, as well as the productivity from the same, has become a business aspect of utmost importance. The main reason for this is the increasing level of innovation which has become very important for the companies in this industry to stay relevant as well as profitable in the face of serious competition from various domestic as well as international companies which are in the field of marketing similar services. Since the in the travel and tourism industry can be defined as a part of service industry for which one of the key drivers is the service level and as the same can be achieved through only high level of performance from the employees of the travel companies, it is a very important factor for the success of the companies.  In view of the fact that it is possible for the companies in this industry to innovate their service offerings only through the ideas and innovations designed and tested by the employees of the company, the quality as well as the productivity of the work of the employees has become of supreme importance for their companies. Also for the companies which are only in the business of providing various intangible services, the dependency of the company on its employee base as well as their performance of them is significantly high. It can only be possible for a company to be successfully provide service of highest quality if the employees of the company are not adequately motivated. Also the employees of the companies add to the satisfaction as well as experience of the consumers through their service level.

Also due to the fact that these companies these days are becoming more and more technologically standardized due to the global development of operational as well as technological capabilities for the companies, the scope for deriving competitive advantages from any of these factors have diminished significantly for last decade or so. For that reason more and more tourism companies are trying to develop the advantages from the performance or the innovation from the employees as well as the productivity of them. In view of all of these factors it can be confirmed that for the context of the modern day business organizations the importance of employee performance is immense. Hence it is also necessary to understand the various factors which influence the performance of the employees and one such significant factor that has been identified by various previous researchers, as well as the industry practitioners, is the leave of motivation for the employees of the companies. Hence this research will attempt to look into the same for identifying the way it influences the company in terms of the productivity of the employees as well as the best practices for the development of the same.

1.3 Significance of the Research

The research will be significant for the companies in the in the travel and tourism industry in which the service offerings are provided to the customers and for which the level of these offerings need to be of the maximum level. Also in view of the fact that all the companies in this industry intend to have their workforces highly motivated to get more productivity out of them for not only increasing revenue earning but also for lessening the overall cost, the research will be significant for them as this will propose the way motivation influences the performance of the employees and the productivity of the employees as well as the best practices for the development of the same.

1.4 Research Aims

The basic aim of this research will be to look into the way the employee motivational leave can impact productivity of the company for the business organizations apart from the other benefits which may be derived from the same. Also in view of the fact that there exist various challenges which are faced by the management as well as the human resource managers of the companies for developing motivational levels of the employees, the same will be looked into along with the various best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels.

1.5 Research Objectives

It is necessary for the researcher to define a set of prior to the research work is initiates in view of the fact that it helps the researcher in defining the scope of the research as well as the structure which is required to be followed for efficiently carrying out the research process. On the basis of the research objectives which are predefined for the particular study, the methodology of the research is also decided and hence it is of utmost importance that a set of well-defined research objectives are developed prior to start of the actual research. For the purpose this study, following are the research objectives which have been developed:

1. To identify and critically discuss the concept of employee motivation as well as the overall advantages of the same for the business organizations
2. To understand and discuss the impact which employee motivation may have on the productivity of the company for the organizations in the travel and tourism industry
3. To identify as well as discuss the various challenges which are faced by the management as well as the human resource managers of the travel and tourism industry companies for developing motivational levels of the employees
4. To identify as well as suggest various best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels

1.6 Research Questions

Any research is developed for the purpose of addressing as well as answering few hypotheses which are built around the topic of the research and these hypotheses are developed through a set of research questions. For this research also these research questions have been developed which the researcher will be attempting to answer in a comprehensive way through the research work. By addressing these hypotheses by the primary or the secondary research, it can be feasible for the researcher to conclude the research in an effective as well as efficient way. The research questions which have been created for the purpose of this specific study are as following:

1. What is the concept of employee motivation?
2. What are the overall advantages of employee motivation theories for the business organizations?
3. What is the impact which employee motivation may have on the productivity of the company for the business organizations?
4. What are the various challenges which are faced by the management as well as the human resource managers of the companies for developing motivational levels of the employees?
5. What can be various best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels?

1.7 Structure of the Report

This Unit 4 Research Project Assignment will follow the standard structure of any dissertation report. At first a small executive summary or abstract regarding the report will be given. Following this will be the first introductory chapter of this research report in which a brief introduction to the topic will be given in the form of significance as well as the background of the research. Post this the secondary research chapter or the literature review will be discussed. The literature review is the section focusing on the aspect of the secondary research. This type of research which is necessary to create a background for the research topic is done through critically reviewing various previous articles and journals on the same or similar topic. Following this will be the chapter on the research methodology of this study. This methodology defines the underlying strategic structure of the research. Following this will be chapter on the findings from the various types of studies of this research as well as the discussion on the same. The final chapter of the report will be done for conclusions from the study as well as the recommendations which can be made from the same.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

The literature review is the section focusing on the aspect of the secondary research. This type of research which is necessary to create a background for the research topic is done through critically reviewing various previous articles and journals on the same or similar topic. Secondary research, in spite of being done on the basis of research works of other researchers as well as industry practitioners is significantly helpful in giving an overview of the topic to the researcher as well as the readers of the report. This also is low on resources like time and manpower since it does not involve gathering data directly from the field of investigation. Secondary research is also very useful in view of the fact that it helps the researcher in creating a platform through which the primary research can be done for deep diving into the topic of the research.

There are various related topics which can be looked into through the literature review for this study. Following are the themes those are relevant for this and will be discussed:

1. Concept of employee motivation as well as the overall advantages of the same for the business organizations
2. The impact which employee motivation may have on the productivity of the company for the travel and tourism industry organizations
3. Various challenges which are faced by the management as well as the human resource managers of the companies for developing motivational levels of the employees
4. Best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels

2.2 Concept of employee motivation as well as the overall advantages of the same for the business organizations

Motivation has been defined by a number of previous researchers as well as the industry practitioners as the a sense or feeling through which the employees of the companies tend to be more aligned to the mission as well as the vision of the company and strive to achieve the same with the best possible performances of them through pursuing various tasks and goals set by the company for them. The motivation also leads to a better fellow feeling towards the managers or the colleagues of the company which defines as well as enhances the group behavior of the individuals, which in turn helps in developing the work culture of the company immensely. Motivation also ensures that the employees are more dedicated to completing their tasks within time as well as for the achievement of maximum possible quality. It is the responsibility of the senior management as well as the human resource departments of the companies that various tangible, as well as intangible rewards, are used with the intention of developing the motivational level of the employees in view of the fact that this is imperative for the organisational behaviour and success (Evans, 2006). Also for the reason that a company can optimize its growth opportunity with a work force that is significantly motivated the importance of the same is also increased. It is possible to develop as well as maintain a source of competitive advantage by the companies with the motivated employees. The sources of advantage can never be developed by the rival companies in a short period span of time. For these very reasons the significance of having a motivated as well as committed workforce should never be ignores. A lack of motivation amongst the employees can lead to halfhearted efforts and performances by the employees may lead to disruption in the various initiatives for the growth in the organization. A motivated base of employee usually is considerably more productive as compared to a workforce with a lack of the same. As far as the advantages generated through employee motivation are countered, the treatment of the above mentioned issues are most important. In addition to these the other advantages also exist for this (Akerele, 2001).

It is possible for the company to develop an efficient as well as effective culture in the workplace with the help of a base of motivated employees which supports the process of innovation for the organization. Due to the fact that the market dynamics of the current days in addition to the various competitive as well as economic pressures the companies have a requirement of specializing in their respective fields of works, innovation as a generator of competitive advantage has grown immensely which also helps in delivering better quality outputs. For the purpose of achievement of these, it is necessary that the workforce is more driven in terms of motivation. Those who are driven to perform will look for better ways to produce quality work in the most efficient way possible (Evans, 2006).

One more factor which is helped by the higher motivation level is the reduction in the employee turnover for the organization. The turnover rate can be defined as the rate at which an organization has to supplant the existing as well as experienced employees of the organization which may or may not be due to the normal cessation of service of these employees. There are various reasons for the cessation of service. One of the most prominent of them is the employees leaving the organization as a result of lack of motivation towards the same.  Finally the motivation level also helps in developing an excellent team work for the company. Dissatisfaction amongst the employee can lead to effects at various levels of the company along with the team bonding amongst the members. In case some of the employees lack the motivation, the same transpires to the other employees including the team members.

2.2 The impact which employee motivation may have on the productivity of the company for the business organizations

As we can confirm from the understanding developed by various analyses by previous researchers as well as industry practitioners, the motivation of the employee may have significant impact on the productivity of the company for the travel and tourism industry organizations. There are various factor through which motivation helps in the development of productivity of the employees as well as the performance of the overall company, some of which are as following (Akerele, 2001):

• Helps from the managers and the other colleagues in which they effectively communicate with the employees
• Effective leadership skills form the managers and lack of bias from the managers
• Appreciation receive from the managers as well as the senior management of the company
• Developing knowledge as well as skills set through opportunities and projects which are challenging
• Effective feedback received from the managers instead of random feedback
• Management support and effective delegation
• More responsibilities and team management
• Positive team environments
• Trainings for improved performance and profile improvement

Motivation also ensures that the productivity which is achieved by the employees stay with them over a longer period of time through retention of the trained employees, a lack of which may lead to significant negative impact on the organizational productivity. Also the efficiency of the overall organization deteriorates if the level of employee motivation is low in view of the fact that the same transpires to other employees as well.

One very significant aspect which helps in the development of productivity of the employees is the level of skills developed through training and development activities of the companies. The training and development activities of the companies are more effective for the employees who are motivated enough, which also ensures that the costs, as well as other resources which are being employed by the companies with the intention of developing their employees, are also well spent. Companies also require to recruit supplementary employees for completing various tasks which could have been done through the existing workforce of the company. This also calls for additional cost for the company. These are the ways in which the employee motivation can have influence on the productivity of the company for the business organizations (Barber, 1998). One of the upcoming trends for the travel and tourism industry is creative tourism in which the travel will be meant for an engaged and authentic experience which will provide a connection with those who reside in the destination. The creative tourist differs from a cultural tourist in that he or she is active and interacts with the locals. This will also require a lot of input from the employees working in the travel and tourism industry and the same will not be possible without the motivation amongst them.

2.6 Summary of Literature Review

Motivation has been defined by a number of previous researchers as well as the industry practitioners as the a sense or feeling through which the employees of the companies tend to be more aligned to the mission as well as the vision of the company and strive to achieve the same with the best possible performances of them through pursuing various tasks and goals set by the company for them. A company can optimize its growth opportunity with a work force that is significantly motivated the importance of the same is also increased. A motivated base of employee usually is considerably more productive as compared to a workforce with a lack of the same. As far as the advantages generated through employee motivation are countered, the treatment of the above mentioned issues are most important. In addition to these the other advantages also exist for this.

It is necessary that the workforce is more driven in terms of motivation. Those who are driven to perform will look for better ways to produce quality work in the most efficient way possible. One more factor which is helped by the higher motivation level is the reduction in the employee turnover for the organization. The turnover rate can be defined as the rate at which an organization has to supplant the existing as well as experienced employees of the organization which may or may not be due to the normal cessation of empowering services of these employees. There are various reasons for the cessation of service. One of the most prominent of them is the employees leaving the organization as a result of lack of motivation towards the same.

Finally the motivation level also helps in developing an excellent team work for the company. Dissatisfaction amongst the employee can lead to effects at various levels of the company along with the team bonding amongst the members. In case some of the employees lack the motivation, the same transpires to the other employees including the team member (Simionescu, 1998). There are various factor through which motivation helps in the development of productivity of the employees as well as the performance of the overall company, some of which are as following:

• Helps from the managers and the other colleagues in which they effectively communicate with the employees
• Effective leadership skills form the managers and lack of bias from the managers
• Appreciation receive from the managers as well as the senior management of the company
• Developing knowledge as well as skills set through opportunities and projects which are challenging
• Effective feedback received from the managers instead of random feedback
• Management support and effective delegation
• More responsibilities and team management
• Positive team environments
• Trainings for improved performance and profile improvement

In spite of all the benefits, there are various challenges which can be faced by the senior management of any company along with the human resource department for developing motivational levels of the employees. Some of them are as following:

1. The structure of the company
2. The culture of the company
3. Lack of Effective Communication

There are various best practices as has been suggested by the industry practitioners as well as the experts those can be used for the development of the motivational levels of the employees. Following are the same:

1. Effective leadership
2. Well defined system for reward and recognition
3. Structured Feedback
4. Career development opportunities

Chapter 3: The methodology for the Research

3.1 Introduction

The methodology chapter describes the structural backbone which is used for this research. To develop a sound and robust research methodology is of utmost importance for the researcher in view of the fact that this decides the level of efficiency as well as effectiveness with which the study can be done. Some of the aspects which are looked into through the methodology for the research includes the approach for the research, data collection methods, tools for data collection etc.

3.2 Research Questions

Any research is developed for the purpose of addressing as well as answering few hypotheses which are built around the topic of the research and these hypotheses are developed through a set of research questions. For this research also these research questions have been developed which the researcher will be attempting to answer in a comprehensive way through the research work. By addressing these hypotheses by the primary or the secondary research, it can be feasible for the researcher to conclude the research in an effective as well as efficient way. The research questions which have been created for the purpose of this specific study are as following:

1. What is the concept of employee motivation?
2. What are the overall advantages of employee motivation for the business organizations?
3. What is the impact which employee motivation may have on the productivity of the company for the business organizations?
4. What are the various challenges which are faced by the management as well as the human resource managers of the companies for developing motivational levels of the employees?
5. What can be various best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels?

3.3 Research Approach

This research looks into a theoretical topic which requires an investigative approach to be taken for the same as the researcher intends to develop a well-rounded understanding of the topic as well as suggest ways through which the same can be improved. Hence the research philosophy which will be used for this study is pragmatism which essentially deals with collection as well as analysis of qualitative theoretical data for answering the research questions or hypotheses.

3.4 Data Collection Methods

The data collection methods will have two phases to it in which the secondary as well as a primary research will be done. The secondary study will be done on the basis of a literature review focusing on the aspect of the same. This type of research which is necessary to create a background for the research topic is done through critically reviewing various previous articles and journals on the same or similar topic. Secondary research, in spite of being done on the basis of research works of other researchers as well as industry practitioners is significantly helpful in giving an overview of the topic to the researcher as well as the readers of the report. This also is low on resources like time and manpower for the reason that it does not involve gathering data directly from the field of investigation. This is also very useful in view of the fact that it helps the researcher in creating a platform through which the primary research can be done for deep diving into the topic of the research.

The primary research for this study will be done on the basis of an interview with few sampled respondents to get a better understanding of the research topic and hence it will be required for the researcher to develop some research instrument which can be administered during the study. In view of the fact that the primary study for this research will be done through face to face interview aided by a questionnaire purpose for which will be to assist a discussion on the research topic. The questionnaire will also collect some quantitative data which will be analysed for getting better understanding of the research hypotheses.

3.5 Research Instruments

As has been confirmed in the data collection methods for this research, a primary research will be done with few sampled respondents to get a better understanding of the research topic and hence it will be required for the researcher to develop some research instrument which can be administered during the study with the prosper of gathering required data from this research. In view of the fact that the primary study for this research will be done through face to face interview aided by an unstructured as well as open ended questionnaire purpose for which will be to assist a discussion on the research topic, the questioned needs to be suitable for the same. Following is the questionnaire which has been developed for this study:

1. In view of the current technological development for automation as well as information technology how important is employee motivation for the companies in your opinion?
2. What are the various challenges which are faced by you while developing motivational levels of the employees?
3. Apart from these what can be the other advantages which can be derived from employee motivation for the business organizations?
4. In your opinion which are the ways the employee motivation impacts the productivity of the company for the business organizations?
5. What can be various best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels?
6. In a scale of 1 to 5, please rate the importance of motivation in the context of modern day organizations, 1 being least important and 5 being most important.
7. Please rank the following outcomes of motivation according to their importance in the organization
   1. Higher retention and lower turnover of employees
   2. High level of performance
   3. Committed towards the objective of the organization
   4. Excellent team work for the company
   5. Better internal environment of the organization
8. Please rank the following best practices which can be used for the development of the employee motivational levels:
   1. Rewards and recognition
   2. Able leadership
   3. Effective communication
   4. Work life balance
   5. Growth opportunity

3.6 Sampling Strategy

The sampling strategy for any research is used with the intention of identifying a small number of respondents with which carrying out the primary research will not be very difficult. For this research the primary research will be done with few human resource managers from some of the local medium and small sized companies. The sampling strategy which will be employed for identifying these respondents will be based on a non-random convenient sampling method of snowball sampling. In this non-probability sampling technique where existing study subjects recruit future subjects from among their acquaintances. There are 30 respondents who have been sampled for this study and responses will be gathered as well as analysed from these 30 respondents.

3.7 Ethical Issues

Due to the presence of a primary study for this research it is very necessary to implement a set of ethical guidelines. Following are the ones which have been followed by this researcher at the time of competing this study:

1. The consent of the company and the individuals have been taken prior to the start of the primary study
2. No name has been mentioned or used for the research to ensure anonymity of the respondents.
3. Respondents were given the full freedom of stop taking part in the interview at any point of time.

3.8 Gantt Chart

Following is the Gantt chart which will be used for the various stages of the research:

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion

The first topic which can be looked into is the importance of motivation. Following is the response gathered for the same:

It has been confirmed by the respondents that despite all the technological development which may have also made few manual labour jobs redundant in the systems, the motivation level of the employees continue to be very important for the performance of the companies. It is necessary that the workforce is more driven in terms of motivation. Following this, the factor which can be looked into is the way in which motivation helps the organizations. Following is the response received for the same:

Dissatisfaction amongst the employee can lead to effects at various levels of the company along with the team bonding amongst the members. In case some of the employees lack the motivation, the same transpires to the other employees including the team members. Following are the best practices which can be used for developing motivation as has been suggested by the respondents:

Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations

There are various factor through which motivation helps in the development of productivity of the employees as well as the performance of the overall company, some of which are as following:

• Helps from the managers and the other colleagues in which they effectively communicate with the employees
• Effective leadership style and skills form the managers and lack of bias from the managers
• Appreciation receive from the managers as well as the senior management of the company
• Developing knowledge as well as skills set through opportunities and projects which are challenging
• Effective feedback received from the managers instead of random feedback
• Management support and effective delegation
• More responsibilities and team management
• Positive team environments
• Trainings for improved performance and profile improvement

There are various best practices as has been suggested by the industry practitioners as well as the experts those can be used for the development of the motivational levels of the employees. Following are the same:

1. Effective leadership: With a leader who manages his or her team in an effective as well as efficient way through the democratic methods, the motivational level of the employees tend to grow higher. Also the effective leadership means that the employees of the company are sufficiently empowered in the setup of the origination. The factor of employee empowerment is of immense importance when it comes to the motivational level of them.
2. Well defined system for reward and recognition: Reward and recognition have always been the most impactful factors to motivate the employees. However it is very necessary to design this process in an efficient way and to identify the set of employees who may be motivated through rewards as well as the set of employees who may be motivated through recognition. In this context, the motivational theory of Maslow can be used to the great effect.
3. Structured Feedback
4. Career development opportunitiesReferences

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References

• Barber, A. E. (1998). Recruiting employees. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Bates, S. (2004, February). Getting engaged. HR Magazine, 49(2), 44–51.
• Delery, J., Gupta, N., Shaw, J., Jenkins, G. D., & Ganster, D. (2000). Unionization, compensation, and voice effects on quits and retention. Industrial Relations, 39, 625–646.
• Maslow A. H., 1943. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, July. 1943, p. 370-396.
• Simionescu A., Bud N., Bu?e F., Stamin P. I., 2006. Managerial Control.
• Lindner James R., 1998. Understanding Employee Motivation, Journal of Extension, Vol.36, No:3
• Akerele, A. (2001). “Role of Labor in Productivity”. Nigeria Journal of Industrial
• Evans, M.G. (2006). Organisational behavior: The central role of motivation. Journal of Management 12 (2), 203.

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