Hanif Rajput Catering Services Management Essay

Hanif Rajput Catering Services Management Essay Hanif Rajput Catering Services, a renowned, immaculate, trust worthy and qualified service provider holds a well-known name amongst the elite group of people in Pakistan for its reputation and excellence in catering and cuisines for weddings, business events and other ceremonies. Hanif Rajput has an exceptional management team and a flawless service Its success depends on the fact that it aims to provide highest standards in terms of quality to their valued customers. The company takes help of different marketing techniques to stay on top of its business area. Despite what the company claims to offer, it is experiencing stagnant sales over the past few years. This research will provide answers to the problem identified. Now what are the reasons for this decline was the main purpose of this study. Interviews and questionnaire surveys were conducted to get the clear picture. Hanif Rajput, an event management company is one of the best and the largest companies in Pakistan. Hanif Rajput being one of the biggest and best companies in this industry does not escape from having internal flaws and inside management clashes. Companys management style has changed from what it was followed before and the employees are not adjusting to it. Vendors on the companys panel were directly dealing with the clients Direct contact of clients with vendors through companys booking managers has played a vital role in decreased sales. Money instead of coming into the company is going into their pockets. Managers are omitting minute details during planning and organizing of an event. Those minute details are frequently among the most imp factors that determine the success and failure of an event. Mr. Ali Ehsan(GM of the company) said that Hanif Rajput Company trys its best to eliminate such minute errors to make their events perfect. Introduction: Marketing Guru, Philip Kotler, defines  events as occurrences designed to communicate particular messages to target audiences.   Suresh Pillai, Managing Director, Eventus Management, considers events as an additional media whereby two-way or active communication is possible. Entertainment is the irrefutable need of us humans, but for Pakistanis and to be more precise Lahoris food and weddings takes away the biggest portion in the pie. Hanif Rajput being in the event management sector (mainly catering) for so long serves the same purpose. Hanif Rajput Catering Services, a renowned, immaculate, trust worthy and qualified service provider holds a well-known name amongst the elite group of people in Pakistan for its reputation and excellence in catering and cuisines for weddings, business events and other ceremonies. HRCS was formed 14 years ago through a partnership between late Mr. Hanif Rajput and Mr. Rana Ashraf Khan in 1991. Since 1994, Hanif Rajput Catering Services sole ownership was legally transferred to Mr. Rana Ashraf Khan and since then it has become even more successful with its high quality services to the residents of the twin cities and its surroundings. In addition to the residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, HRCS has provided high quality services to a multicultural clientele varying from the lively Punjabis in Lahore to the exuberant Pathans in Peshawar, from Dera Ismail Khan to Muzaffarabad as well as Gilgit. (Hanif Rajput 1979, Tender Bid Offer) Hanif Rajput an Overview Hanif Rajput, caterers was launched in 1979 by (late) Muhammad Hanif Rajput at Karachi. Since its inception, the company has emerged as the leading and fastest growing catering organization in the country. The rapid expansion and continued diversification of the business are attributable to three essential factors: precise planning, adherence to quality standards enthusiastic teamwork. The remarkable record of business growth and companys recognition in the area of catering owes largely to the managements commitment to stay on top in catering organization. Today Hanif Rajput is the finest catering organization in terms of quality food and it enjoys a vast range of clientele. (Hanif Rajput, 1979, Tender Bid Offer) Today the company has diversified its business to further stream line its operations. Hanif Rajput caterers Hanif Rajput Industrial and Field Management Service HR Mobiles (Pvt.) Ltd Quality Policy The management and staff of Hanif Rajput industrial and Field Management Services strongly believe that there is no substitute of hard work and honesty for providing highest standard of services to their valued customers. Business Ethics Hanif Rajput industrial and felid management services is strongly committed to ethical business relationships based on mutual trust and providing qualitative services at competitive price . in the context of this commitment, the companys employees are not permitted to accept any type of gratification whatsoever from the suppliers and vendors. Similarly, Hanif Rajput does not expect from its clients Vision To stay on top in our business area Hanif Rajput is committed mentioned vision through these under mentioned pointers. Quality Management High Standard of Food Customer Satisfaction A positive impact on the people we serve Mission Right from the beginning we have had a mission to maintain quality. The kind of quality that one is recognized by. That is why to meet the ever increasing demands of our customers; we have laid down certain principles that ensure consistently better services and a satisfied customer base. Quality food at competitive cost Dependable operation by qualified professionals and wireless network systems Assured Prompt Service Companys Objectives To provide services to our valued customers to the best of our ability based on internationally recognized standards. To ensure reliable and sustainable operations To provide quality services at sustainable costs To pursue and maintain consistent improvement in quality systems Strategy HR corporate strategy is to build out existing competencies within the group and to establish a culture of exceptional performance with a view to set a platform from future market expansion. Hanif Rajput Services Wedding Lawns Outdoor Catering Avenues HR Mobiles (Pvt.) Ltd Garrison Banquet Halls (GBH) Industry Overview Marketing Guru, Philip Kotler, defines  events as occurrences designed to communicate particular messages to target audiences.   Suresh Pillai, Managing Director, Eventus Management, considers events as an additional media whereby two-way or active communication is possible. Miss.  P. PIRAKATHEESWARI, Lecturer in Commerce, Sri Sarada College for Women in her article says that  management of an event encompasses all activities involved in planning, organizing, staffing, leading and evaluation of an event.   In fact, all operational task for an event such as the ground work, viz., venue selection and stage design, arranging the infrastructural facilities required, liaison with artists/ performers and networking with other activities such as advertising, PR, ticket sales, etc., fall under the purview of event management. Events industry is extremely diverse and fragmented and might overlap with other industries such as hotels. This industry comprise of wedding events, business/ corporate events, outdoor events and tradeshows. Pakistani event Management Industry includes about 4000 companies with combined annual revenue of Rs 100 billion. Major companies include Hanif Rajput, Jalal and Sethi, Iris, Harman Events, Al Waseem events, Ali Hodges events, Spark and Sparkles, Impact productions etc. This industry is fragmented. The top companies make about 50% of the industry revenue. Demand is driven by overall economic activity and profits. Small companies manage their profits by retaining valuable staff and managing costs where as large companies have the advantage of negotiating labor, they have multiple locations, multiple suppliers and transportation. (Aug. 27, 2012, Trade shows and event planning services) This industrys primary function is producing and managing different events, trade shows, conferences etc. other than that this industry design, builds, ships booths for tradeshows for individual exhibitors. Event management industry overall is growing at a fast pace. Prior to rescission and even in the rescission season this industry was experiencing growth. This industry has shown considerable boom in the past 10 years and has outperformed many sectors in the economy. According to a research conducted by (Eventias Member Survey February 2009), we have seen that events are down by more than 10%. Public sector despite the recession is still sending money on the events. There is an increase in public events and spending on festivals is increasing drastically. Despite inflation, public spending is increasing. With this increase and with rising trend towards event management, a lot of event management companies are emerging. Due to this, competition between event organizers has also amplified because they are all invited to deal for the same purpose. Event industry is diversifying to increase their offer and improving their customer service skills to deal with this elevated competition. Industrys outstanding current performance is a hint for its future success. Being an international industry, some sort of international standards can be put into place for events in the future. Technology being developed we see that the technological trends will continue to grow along with face to face customer interactions. Furthermore in the next ten to fifteen years, Pakistan is seen hosting several high profile events which will provide organizers to gain ample experience and skills to organize events on enormous scale. Literature Review Moise Daniela *, Georgescu Bogdanb, Zgură Danielc in their article The use of event marketing management strategies tells that events evolve and changes with the development of mankind. Events are part of social, cultural and economic factors in accordance to various tertiary sectors. Events can be defined as nonstandard services in which knowledge, behavior commitment to service providers is very crucial. Contentment of customers comprises of well integrated communication with clients, event venue, design, the management system and the staff. Organizations should take into account the types of customers that they address with new events, so they have to develop new events or to diversify the actual ones. (Rutherford, 2008) considers that the event marketing management process is a cross complex of flows of management processes with management and marketing functions. As shown, the functional units grouped by subject area, form the fabric to manufacture an event. The process starts with a lot of research, continuing with event planning, the organization implementation and at the end of event the final evaluation. Departments from the administration, operations, marketing and risk management and not only, are involved in a greater or less matter of carrying out the tasks. As all of them have met different problems in setting up an event, and can come with various solutions or proposals. Constantly bringing together the various creative disciplines in new areas of experience transforms any event into a unique experience. When combining different sensory impressions, receptors are taken in other worlds, identifying factors and factors of the event experience can hardly be overcome. Their enormous power of attraction combined with deep emotions; determine harmonious events to become important aspects of marketing communication. They create customer loyalty and enhance the sense of group, or we, members of a team (Daab, 2007).The increase of invol vement of commercial customers and the increase of number of events, illustrate their significant importance in advertising (Filip, 2011). Managing and organizing an event properly requires well incorporation of disciplines, but in order to produce effective results and implementation two fields are very crucial: marketing and management. Without these the event can never exist. Event marketing addresses both to customers and business partners of an organization as well as employees working in a company. Marketing is followed by conduction of two kinds of researches. On one hand it address to stakeholders and the extent to which it outsources or moves to other companies for their effective implementation of these events, and on the other hand, the employees opinion about the effectiveness of events, and also proposals, to really become perfect Marketing Events, in terms of participants (Olteanu, 2005). In terms of organizing events that address to target customers and other business partners (Davidson Rogers, 2007): Accessible locations, with enough parking spaces, large spaces; Greater attention to detail, in providing maps of presentation to all participants; Innovative and exciting ideas, approaching broader and more complex themes, with a high degree of novelty; Compliance with the program and the exact start and end. Strict timing of presentation sessions, without any exception; The menu to take account also of the needs of all participants the vegetarians The best possible sound system, enjoyable music, more prepared speakers; The use of translators, because not every participant may know the international language spoken; The events to be the most concise possible and to be transmitted only the most important, late minute information concerning the specified domain; The guests to be successful people at least in the certain domain, either from abroad or national ones, and the contact information of the speakers for a subsequent collaboration or for an explanation of some problems; The events to be unique, in order to catch the attention of the participants, but also to have a direct approach and the message to be a simple one; A proper environment to be created for the networking development, by organizing some sessions between the participants in order to exchange experience. The success of an event depends of the efficiency of the event marketing and management. It is therefore crucial for marketing managers to give sufficient time and energy for future planning; as the realization of the marketing management is the manifestation of the event. Marketing management strategy of the planning process comprises of practical value and it defines and forms the future of the organization and responds to changes in technology, environmental conditions and meets the needs of customers, and also the employees. Strategies for interactive communication, with external and internal stakeholders, in events marketing by Moise Daniela *, Georgescu Bogdanb, Zgură Danielc confers that interactive communication is a key element in the development of events including the company that creates events, organizations that order invents and the participants/employees within the company. The success of any event highly depends upon the properly managed and good communication with the clients as well as the employees in a company. The effect of the communications can be positive or negative. Any company that sends across the information or message about their products and services must be integrated well in order for the consumers to have a succinct image of the offer of the organization. According strictly from this point of view of the proper interactive communication, the organizers of events have available the following strategic options (Goldblatt, 2005): The use of some media communication means of the type: advertising at the place of sale (posters, billboards, flyers), information indicators, user guides, environment; The use of some interpersonal: communication means of the type: personnel in contact, commercial contact (in case of fairs,, exhibitions, etc.), clients (orally promotion). Companies appeal to a large number of target audience while creating events, the means of communication can be external or internal. The most important criteria that is taken into account while conducting events and outlining a budget depends upon the type of event, the way in which it is realized (in direct labor, outsourced or joint), the location where the event takes place ( must be taken into account if the organization has space assigned and sufficient for the development of the event because in case that the space is too small for the number of participants their experience can be unpleasant), the period in which the event takes place (it firstly must be considered also the availability of the participants to come to the event) and the participation tax ( if for some events the participation or the entrance is free, for other events there exists a participation tax of which quantum increases in direct proportion with the demand for such an event). The internal communication is an important component of marketing mix which represents the interior of a company which plays an essential role in ensuring the proper management of events to the audience from the internal environment and the ones created and delivered in the interactive marketing. Internal communication is indissolubly related to the communicates through the event. (Filip, 2011) Therefore, it aims at the attraction, support and agreement of the personnel, the increase of the degree of its involvement in the realization of the event. Communication is preferred with the employees, introducing the new employee once he/she enters in the organization, and even when they leave the organization. In this way, the internal communication of the marketing ranks with the managerial communication, at the superior management level, having a specific role, the one of contributing to the attaining of the objectives stipulated in the marketing plans of the organization. Its objectives are derived from the ones of the marketing, being included in some specific programs, using specific means of internal communication. (Olteanu, 2005). There are various means of internal communication that are or can be used by the companies for effective results. Newsletters in a written form, Web sites, Blogs, Other printed materials such as brochures, internal notes, announcements posted on the bulletin board etc. The organizations that communicate with their own employees can recourse to a wide range of events through which they can send a diversity of messages for attaining the marketing objectives. (Masterman Wood, 2006) Jonathan Reynold in his writing Common Problems Faced by Event Organizers: What Is the Solution? states that event Management is a business that is on its boom. But on the other hand event organizers are facing a lot of problems these days. The main problem faced by them is the competition. Before the emergence of the internet people had no concept social media platforms and online promotions of events, activities and other things. However with the internet and awareness of social media, enterprises are now facing a tough challenge merging their traditional marketing strategies with the more advanced online promotional tactics. Event organizers now days face a lot of problems managing events. The basic problem faced in arranging events is budget. People are not spending more money on their events and designers on the other hand have to keep the clients budget in mind and give them the best they could. Due to inflation and other recessionary economic problems planners are not being able to cater to the clients requirements with the given budgets. Event planners must keep in mind the amount of money required to book and decorate the venue. Moreover there is a dire need to recruit additional staff to manage the business. Event attendance is also going down due to the worldwide economic crises. People are showing reluctance in attending corporate meetings and trade shows and because of this many companies/ organizers are failing to sell their entire inventory. Conference or meeting management problems are also seen. Companies are also seen hiring outsiders for help because one person cannot manage logistical aspects of a conference for their attendees. This outsourcing takes a lot of time because suitable staff is not easy to find. And even if they find it it takes time to make them understand the work flow system. These problems and issues can be managed easily now. Social media integration has become a common need now. Individuals are no longer using social media sites for personal reasons. They are using these social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, MySpace etc to meet urgent business needs. To address these growing issues and effectively manage events, organizers are seen taking the help of various types of online event management solutions. This article, Business Development in the Event Management Industry written by Himanshu Sharma discusses the different techniques of developing business. For successful business development a keen eye on the market should be maintained, every move of your competitor must be monitored, every new product in the market must be considered while making marketing decisions and different marketing strategies should be adopted. In the event management industry most of the work is done via outsourcing. There could be different kind of outsourcing for example social event outsourcing, corporate event outsourcing, charitable event outsourcing and so on. Companies often outsource their marketing campaigns to different event management companies as these companies are well equipped for the job. They usually consist the right logistic, man power, equipments for the job. If for a company the event management activities are an integral part then those companies can open up their very own event management department decrease their production and marketing cost. Over the years there is a drastic increase in the growth of event management companies and now its a 500 billion dollar industry. Social networking sites can prove to be very helpful to get business for such companies. Facebook, MySpace, Orkut are few examples that are used for business development. Event-management is mostly about networking, the more contacts you have the more you can attract business for your event management company. I think this article correctly identifies the key factors which are needed to be their for the success of any event management company. An event manager must be very vigilant about the market scenarios and remain updated about the new companies that are entering the market. Financial Analysis Hanif Rajput Companys financial highlights for the years 2008-2010 are as follows. Revenues/Turnover CGS HR Caterers 2010 Rupees 171,324,351 (130,548,831) HR Decorators 2010 Rupees 72,047,886 (47,838,441) HR Caterers 2009 Rupees 173,095,820 (131,930,397) HR Decorators 2009 Rupees 94,267,977 (68,492,287) HR Caterers 2008 Rupees 181,541,591 (138,367,606) HR Decorators 2008 Rupees 84,561,589 (63,334,485) Gross Profit Admin Expenses 40,775,520 (32,138,680) 20,209,445 (16,054,646) 41,165,432 (35,360,319) 25,775,690 (19,184,929) 43,173,985 (39,005,804) 21,227,104 (18,288,862) Profit/loss from Operations Less: financial Charges 8,636,840 (6,041,058) 8,154,799 (5,852,669) 5,805,105 (3,223,674) 6,590,761 (4,116,154) 4,168,181 (1,370,165) 2,938,242 (695,405) NET PROFIT 2,595,782 2,302,130 2,581,431 2,474,607 2,798,016 2,242,837 Measuring companys profitability over a period of time is very important. From the above stated financial highlights of Hanif Rajput we can see that sales are decreasing slowly over the years. Expenses and cost of sales are not decreasing with the same ratio. If we take out the percentage difference of sales by Subtracting sales of 2008 from sales in 2010 we get the average percentage by which the sales have fallen from 2008 to 2010. Percentage Difference HR Caterers = (Sales 2010- sales 2008)/ Sales 2008 * 100 Percentage Difference HR Caterers= 5.63 % It means that sales have fallen 5.63% in the last three years for HR caterers. Similarly if we take out the percentage difference of HR decorators, we will see that Dà ©cor Departments sales have decreased 14% in the last three years. This is due to the fact that Hanif Rajput is lacking innovation and creativity in its events. This is discussed in detail later. Similarly we can see that HR caterers Gross Profit is also decreasing by 5.5%. Whereas Gross Profit of HR decorators is decreasing by 4.7%. Expenses are falling almost in the same ratio but we can see that the financial charge are increasing tremendously, which is the most important reason of profit fall. Research Question The following basic questions will be addressed in this study: Why Hanif Rajput is not meeting the sales target for the last three years? Methodology: Research Significance Methodology is an integral part of research and emphasis is given on research theories along with discussing the validity and reliability of data so as to provide a general view about how the research is conducted. The objective of the researchers is to use specific tools for collecting primary and secondary data in order to systematically generate knowledge of the world. According to Evered and Louis (1981) the methodology has been clarified by two distinguishing research stances: inquiry from the outside In general terms, Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are linked, respectively, with the two principal research paradigms which are generally labeled Positivism and Interpretivism (Mangan et al, 2004). Positivism and Interpretivism totally contradict each other. Positivism obeys the law of nature and is based on factual information like the sun rises and sets every day. Data Type: There are two types of data, quantitative and qualitative. My data type will be qualitative as questionnaires will be filled by the employees. And interviews will be conducted by the CEO and GM of the company and other employees. The information gathered will then be analyzed and In order to run the regression and analyze the statistical data I will convert the data into numbers through coding to make it more feasible. Research Design: Research design is a framework for conducting the research project. It tends to discover new insights as well as describe the functions of existing variables. These kinds of designs are flexible and versatile in data collection and analysis. The main methods under these designs are qualitative like interviews, case studies and participant observation. The aim of the study is to figure out why are Hanif Rajputs sales stagnant since the past few years. What are the reasons and factors causing this status quo?, although this industry is so attractive in Pakistan and is constantly growing. The design of this study is employee survey and two interviews. Sampling and sampling technique: Sample Size Due to limitation of resources and time constraints on part of both the researcher and the respondents, the whole population cannot be studied therefore; a sample would be selected from the total target population. A total of 30 surveys questionnaires will be conducted. Managers and employees of the company will be asked questions about the research and information will be collected. Sampling Procedure There are two types of sampling methods used in collecting the data; probability sampling and non-probability sampling. Sample size will also be based on the convenience sampling due to the ease of access that the researcher had in communicating with the respondents in the company. Research Tools The Primary research methodology for my paper will entail both written and oral surveys. i.e. Data collection though questionnaires and surveys. Data Collection Procedure Both primary as well as secondary data collection techniques would be used, for the research to present an authentic and a more comprehensive view. A primary data refers to information collected by oneself which is original and reliable through direct observation or questionnaires. Whereas a secondary data refers to information collected from sources which already exists, through facts, figures, journals, articles and books. This study was based on primary data collection approach. Data was collected from a sample population of employees by means of questionnaires which will form the annexure. They were distributed to a total of 30 respondents of different ages, gender and income. Once the questionnaires will be filled theyll be collected. Interviews of senior employees e.g. the CEO and GM operations will also be conducted to get the in depth information. Questionnaires employed close ended questions in order to induce quick decisions from the respondents. The questionnaire design was also key to producing efficient results. In Depth Interviews Interviews are the leading means for acquiring detailed information from test subjects. In depth interviews for the purpose of this study were either unstructured or semi-structured so as to avoid inducing generic responses that fall in the median. The underlying views, concerns and cognitive processes of the participants responses were the primary objective of my research. Unstructured and semi-structured interviews allow us to gain detailed information about a respondents opinion, views, feelings, beliefs and behaviors so as to derive a holistic picture for the research rather than rudimentary outcomes. According to some sociologists, interviews are prone to be biased and the results cannot be generalized due to the small size of the sample. However, these issues can be mitigated by carefully selecting a representative sample population and by being well versed in interviewing techniques so as to induce efficient responses. While conducting in depth interviews, it is important that the researcher should be patient and calm and also make the participant feel comfortable, secure, and at ease enough to speak openly. There should be a good communication between the researcher, and participant and it is better to avoid yes/no questions,. Which tend to, stifle detail. One of the main issue is to try not to guide try not to guide course of the interview to preconceived questions, but to follow what is on subjects minds. Keeping in mind all the guidelines two in depth interviews were conducted which gave new insights to the data collection procedure as well as the main rese