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Hilton Worldwide

University of Phoenix

Hilton Worldwide

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Hilton Hotels was established in 1943 by Conrad Hilton. It is now a worldwide

leader in quality hotels. There are hotels for the budget wise business traveler with their

Hampton Inn brand, all the way up to the fullest of service, spa, and pure luxury with the

Waldorf Astoria resort hotels. In 2008, the company changed hands from the Hilton

family to become currently known as Hilton Worldwide. These hotels are owned and

managed by franchises within the Hilton Hotels Corporation. In 1943, Hilton Hotels

became the first nationwide hotel company in the United States. The company contains

ten different brands: Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree Guest

Suites, Embassy Suites, Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Homewood Suites, Home2 Extended

Stay, Hilton Grand Vacations, and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts. Their Hilton

HHonors guest loyalty program allows guests to earn points from their stay for use with

their hotels, along with some automobile rental and airline companies. They also have an

American Express branded HHonors card to earn points from purchases.

Hilton Hotels has many technological systems that it uses in order to provide its

services and maintain daily operations in a systematic fashion. As one can imagine,

Hilton Hotels is one of the leading brands within the hospitality industry, and it takes

intensive training and the newest and most efficient technology to service such a vast

amount of clientele. Employees utilize a custom reservations program called Hilton OnQ.

OnQ is designed to provide the most streamlined approach to operating their hotels.

There are many different technology systems in place at Hilton Hotels. At the

minimum are personal computers which are linked to computer databases which allow

for the transfer of information and data from each hotel location worldwide to the

corporate office and vendors for order processing. These computers are installed with

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proprietary software that is specific to Hilton’s needs and allows it to track arrivals, take

reservations, adjust guest pricing, provide room service, and manage reward programs.

Hilton Hotels have a massive phone system that supports the needs of each guest per

room and for the staff and management to use in daily operations. Finally, Hilton Hotels

uses technology for the safety of its guest. At Hilton Hotels as well as most large hotels

in the United States, one will find magnetic card readers on every guest door and a

security system of cameras and alarms within the hotel itself. All of the systems also

require password authentication so their financial and personal information is kept safe as

well.

Whenever a new technology is introduced to Hilton there are many logistical

areas that must be addressed. First, the financial burden that could be placed on the

business should the new technology become mandatory. The cost to benefit ratio must be

thoroughly considered by management and determined whether or not the technology is

essential to continue operations or if current technology would suffice until the newer

technology became more affordable or necessary. Second, Hilton must consider how to

strategically place the new technology within its current operations whether through

merging of systems or through elimination of one technology and the replacement of

another. Finally, Hilton must consider, if the new technology is massive in size, where

the new technology can be placed and operated efficiently and what staff will be needed

to operate and maintain the new technology.

New employees are required to train for at least two weeks on the Hilton OnQ

reservations system. They are led by technologically advanced videos and simulations

through each component they will be required to use. They are taught how to resolve

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possible issues as well. Each employee is shown how to run and analyze reports

regarding the business’s needs and sales. They are shown how to make reservations for

the guest for another hotel and how to assess rates and note occupancy levels.

The hotel must have computers in order to store guest information and

reservations. The housekeeping and maintenance departments use the reports from the

computer systems to show them what needs to be done on a daily basis. The management

uses the revenue reports from the computer in order to make a weekly budget and

forecast future availability. It allows the management to make an employee schedule

based on the needs of the hotel. They utilize spreadsheets through Microsoft Excel to

anticipate guest volumes then to schedule the right amounts of staff in order to properly

serve the customers. These spreadsheets are printed and distributed to the employees so

they are aware of schedules as well.

The front office is in charge of making reservations everyday and in order to do

so they must have a computer with the proper software and a phone with multiple lines as

resources. The speed of the Internet is very important and it allows each employee to

work at a faster pace. The most important part is checking guests in and out of the hotel.

This process requires OnQ personal computer based software and a few navigation tools

to locate the guest name and arrival dates. This process is critical to the business because

the guest brings in the revenue and they do not want to be at the front desk for a long

period of time. Also, guests are tired from traveling and want to get to their rooms so they

can relax or enjoy a vacation. The management does not want a guest to have to wait

because it can transform their mood and can create a bad experience for everyone

involved. Any guest, whether on vacation or visiting for business, wants a streamlined

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check in process where all of their needs are quickly and easily anticipated and then met.

In order to make this happen the manager provides extra staff and fast computers to

handle the volume of customers. Each employee is trained in how to handle normal check

in and out procedures, as well as problem solving to anticipate how to handle problems.

Hilton ONQ has provided every Hilton hotel a fast reservation program that

allows hotels to speed up the process and allows the customer more time to enjoy

themselves. Having this program saves the management time and it provides them with

daily reports on the services available and the front desk staff more time to interact with

the guests and get them on their way. Customer service is such a demanding service in

today’s economy it can help or hurt a company if a company does not have the tools to

proceed. A high speed Internet connection is required to be able to properly utilize the

Hilton OnQ system. A client is able to book or cancel multiple rooms in many locations

through the one stop system. Saving time and money is incredibly valuable to each of

these guests.

Having access and proper training to be able to use this Hilton OnQ software is a

positive thing for any Hilton hotel. It enables the housekeeping staff to know who is

checked into a room and if they want their room cleaned for that day. It shows when

maintenance or extra linens are required for the guests. OnQ also allows the guest to

request snacks, beverages, or extra linens when they first make their reservation, saving

them and the on site staff even more time and energy.

Hilton OnQ also provides the necessary numbers to the executive housekeeper so

they can have enough staff to take care of the guest rooms. The software breaks down the

number of rooms for each housekeeper to clean and distributes it into a report for them to

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print out and create assignments. After the housekeepers clean a room they log it into a

computer and it transmits it to the front desk allowing the front desk agent to sell that

room. This is an amazing piece of technology because it saves time and keeps the hotel

operation working at a faster, more efficient pace.

The night auditor is responsible for completing the financial and occupancy

reports late at night. Obviously, a business such as a hotel requires staffing 24 hours a

day, seven days a week. The auditor runs the sales and financial reports, quantifies it, and

then adds it in to the corporate reports. Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are also used for

these tasks. They also help plan out the potential sales for groups and conferences, as

well as the necessary food, beverages, welcome packages, and conference rooms.

Having the Internet based software saves time and money and it is very profitable

for all. Maintenance has a similar procedure in the hotel operations. When a room has a

problem such as clogged toilet or tub not draining, the front desk agent reports it through

the Internet software and maintenance department receives it on their computer and then

they proceed to work on it. After the job is complete they log on and mark it as

completed and it is transmitted back to the front desk computer letting the staff know it is

fixed. This process saves time for all departments and the computer is much faster when

compared to the time and energy it takes for a guest to have to walk to the front desk and

verbally let someone know and then have to walk back to their room. It also saves the

staff the time and resources that are required to fulfill the need of the guest.

Management is able to track profits and occupancy very easily with the online

OnQ system. They are able to generate reports including those documenting phone calls

and movie purchases from the rooms. It allows the management the ability to track room

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revenue and complimentary stays, VIPS, return guests, and Hilton Honors members. It

allows them to easily assess Honors points to those staying in the hotel. They can forecast

budgets and room rates and book groups stays. This technology is very time saving and

efficient for the management to be able to generate any one of these reports with the click

of a mouse.

Every employee including the management team had to undergo seven to ten days

of demanding training for the system OnQ. After the training is complete, all employees

take a test to see if they understand the new program. If they do well they will attain a

license for the program and will be ready and able to start using it. For each employee

who does not pass will have to go through the process from the beginning. All general

managers of the company will have to spend thirty days at Hilton University to

accomplish their training.

Hilton partners with community values as well. They offer stays to those working

on charity projects, such as Extreme Home Makeover and the Make A Wish Foundation.

This becomes invaluable to the organization because it creates a sense of goodwill and

loyalty toward the brand. Many consumers choose the Hilton brand of hotels because of

the value, the quality, and the service, but some choose them out of the appreciation for

community involvement as well.

There are many ways that Hilton is involved in the up and coming electronic

neighborhood and rewarding technology. The Hilton HHonors program allows guests to

truly be rewarded for their stays, and their partnered American Express card allows

clients to earn points toward stays from everyday purchases as well. With the

combination of fierce loyalty from American Express customers, coupled with that of

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Hilton loyalists, this program has boomed. Another large part of their support of the

growing technological world is the free Hilton application for the Apple I Phone. It

allows the user to locate local Hilton branded hotels. They are able to view amenities and

services at that hotel, and book better rates than they might normally find. This has also

been a proven winner in customer convenience and loyalty.

Hilton employs 550 people in the IT department. The team’s primary strengths

are in project management and design. The team possesses the skills of translating the

business requirements into the correct technologies. The team’s focus is on delivering

business value through technology and believes that it is done through project

management and analysis. This helps to determine the correct value propositions and

delivering technology to get that value. Hilton invests heavily in technology believing

those who do have a leg up on the competition. Because Hilton cannot control outside

influences like currency fluctuations, costs of natural resources, and political events, the

IT team is ready and can move quickly to implement programs to mitigate.

Because Hilton could not to purchase a complete solution to reach across the

entire organization, 400 of the 550 people in the company’s IT team conceived OnQ in

1997. The core focus of the project was to integrate Hilton’s property operations and

back office applications with a few better applications from vendors serving the

hospitality industry. The biggest challenge was building a data model that could be

viewed across the entire organization. OnQ is a technology system, which integrates

many capabilities onto one system and can support, guest service, hotel reservations,

sales, operations, and business gathering activities. The system is made up of six business

functions taking all the functions needed in a hotel business and integrates them to work

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together as one system. The functions are reservation access via the Internet or a call

center, customer profiling – collecting information on a customer’s preferences, how

often he or she has stayed and where. Another function is revenue management

technology dictating which rooms would be sold based on demand and other prompts.

The fourth function checking customers in and out, when to clean rooms, and send bills.

Then there are the financial components and the HR functions. The information flow

seamlessly through the different functions and employees all see the same information.

This helps make sure customers are being treated consistently the same.

Cuneo (2003), A customer arrives at a Hilton Hotel in San Francisco, and staff

members are ready to serve him bottled water. Not because they serve all customers

bottled water, but because at the customer's last Hilton stay, in New York, the hotel had

run out of the product when he requested it. "We can have 40 people ask for bottled water

at the same time," says Tim Harvey, senior VP, and CIO at Hilton Hotels Corp. "But we

will give it to the guy that didn't get his water in New York first". (Hilton's $50 million

answer, para. 1). Hilton believes in giving employees the skills they need to advance in

Hilton companies and in the hospitality industry. When developing OnQ, Hilton could

devote multiple resources to the task because of the agreement made with all employees

across the company how important it was for the hotel to have seamless, in-house

technology. The key to the agreement was Hilton’s leadership and employees who

communicated the importance across all levels and had together worked to prioritize

projects.

The Shein (2003) website. This is a lifetime commitment on how we are going to

operate and run our systems from now on," Harvey says. Hilton's user community is a

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creative group, always wanting to try new features and functionality, Harvey says. So

while he needed to empower them, he also had to make sure they were able to

communicate their ideas effectively. "There is a fine line between empowerment and

playing by the rules," he says.

Technology is not good unless it is used and embraced; it is about people adapting

technology. The information technology can provide is the real value. Hilton believes that

if they are going to put information into the hands of the company’s employees who work

in all areas, the technology needs to be simplified. It needs to be easy to understand by

employees working frontline jobs who have a need for quick information while talking to

the customer. Hilton must also have 2100 hotels to deliver on the brand. With more than

200,000 employees, the chain needs to have the staff; hotel operators and franchises

consistently use the information to achieve the vision. Management has created a passion

to ensure that each employee knows how to use the technology to create a delightful

experience so the customer will not go to a competitor.

Hilton has introduced OnQ Hilton University which is the hotel chain’s award

winning e-learning facility available to all employees globally. The university offers a

range of leaning opportunities including management skills, personal development, and

financial training and a choice to work independently at a student own pace or in a virtual

classroom.

To communicate the improvements in technology to current and future customers,

Hilton marketed the new technology as a flexible and convenient collection of essential

business amenities. Today’s traveling professional would appreciate The Hilton

Integrated Business Solution. It allows the professional to stay connected with clients and

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customers with high speed Internet access in guestrooms, meeting rooms, and all public

areas, a 24 hours self service business center, secure remote printing services, mail and

shipping services and comfortable workspaces in guestrooms.

It is the social responsibility of an organization to ensure that accuracy and quality

of information and the access of information are provided to the relevant stakeholders.

For instance, the company must provide accurate financial information to the government

authorities for the purpose of tax returns. In addition, it should provide accurate

information and access to additional information to shareholders. Human resource can

play an active role by communicating the code of ethics and setting up procedures for

whistle blowing.

There are seven principles that define social responsibility. Those are community,

diversity, environment, ethics, financial responsibility, human rights, and safety.

According to Hilton’s Supply Management they quote stating “Hilton Worldwide (HW)

has directed various efforts at all of these areas, including a Franchise Development

Outreach Support Program aimed at attracting diverse hotel owners, a corporate-wide

mentoring program designed to support the professional development of all diverse team

members, and a supplier diversity program aimed at encouraging minority and women-

owned companies to participate in contracting and subcontracting activities. HW and

Supply Management will continue to grow and strengthen these programs and new ones

in our ongoing commitment to our role as a good corporate citizen (Supply Management,

2010).”

It is the responsibility of organizations to ensure that flow of information is

uninterrupted and the content of the information is veracious and adequate. Consider the

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examples of the WorldCom and Enron scams. The companies did not meet their social

responsibility when they misinformed the stockholders and public in general about the

finances of the company. Moreover, in case of Arthur Andersen the company used

technology to destroy incriminating documents and records! These are attempts to stop

the flow of information and manipulate its contents. Had they used information

technology and informed SEC about the misdoings, it would have saved the plight of

thousands of employees and shareholders.

Organizations use information about the distribution of products, their prices and

the technology used for making the products. Organizations have the social responsibility

to use the information for the good of the community. Human resource can play a

constructive role by setting up a code of ethics, communicating it and setting up

procedures for its implementation. Consider the following examples, pharmaceutical

companies use advanced technology for research and come to know of the baneful effects

of certain drugs but delay warning the users and doctors of such drugs, cigarette

companies knew of the cancerous effects of smoking but for year they encouraged

consumers to smoke through powerful advertising. Currently, cellular phone makers

through use of technology are aware of the harmful effects of excessive cellular phone

use but they do not inform the users. This is not socially responsible use of information.

The ownership of intellectual output of individuals belongs to individuals unless there is

a specific agreement with the employer that the intellectual output will belong to the

organization. Moreover, if an individual is employed specifically for generating

intellectual output the ownership of that output will belong to the employer. Companies

should ensure that they do not appropriate intellectual output that lawfully and rightfully

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belongs to employees.

The privacy of personal information should be protected by a strong security

system by organizations. On one hand it is the social responsibility of the organization to

ensure that personal information of employees should not be disclosed. On the other hand

information technology advances have made it possible to keep confidential information

entirely in digital form and take steps to ensure that the information is not disclosed to

any person. Advanced security systems and passwords ensure that only a single

authorized person in the Human Resource department has access to information.

Internal organizational communication is confidential, is work related and should not be

disclosed to outsiders. The communication may be related to current work issues, current

project, trade secrets, confidential information about the company and its operations. The

responsibility lies with employees to ensure they do not disclose information they have

received in the due course of their employment. On the other hand the employers need to

ensure that confidential information about employees is not disclosed to other employees

or to other companies. For instance, if the company comes to know the personality type

or the leadership style of an employee, the responsibility lies with the company to keep

that information confidential.

The famous Hilton company makes sure that all personal information of their

guests and or clients is well secured. From the beginning, with the use of the program

that they use for their reservations OnQ to the Housekeeping department that enters the

room while their personal belongings are in there. The Hilton brand makes sure that their

stay with them is as pleasant as the next.

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Hilton continues to be at the forefront of the technological aspects available to the

consumer. They have added the conveniences of the one stop reservations systems, while

at the same time eliminating the hassles that are many times part of the travel planning

process. They have enabled business guests to easily charge their stays to their business

accounts. They have provided the option of booking options ahead of time, at the same

time they book reservations for a particular hotel. At that time they are able to book

meeting rooms and what amenities are available and already set up in advance in those

meeting areas such as beverage and catering options as well as necessary technologies.

These options are available and installed ahead of time, whether it be a projector, display

screen, color coordinated linens, or other convenient options for their meetings. When

booking a reservation it is also possible to select certain upgrades, such as a jetted tub, for

when the business traveler has a few minutes of down time to relax. They are able to add

options such as snack packages pre-set up in rooms and extra pillows or towels. They can

let the hotel know they would like mobile massage services or turn down service, as well

as whether or not they will require dry cleaning services. Hilton branded hotels are

capable of providing everything the busy traveler may need. These include around the

clock freshly brewed coffee, well stocked business centers, fully equipped meeting

facilities and banquet rooms, and “On the Run” breakfast bags, which include fruit, a

cereal bar, bottled water, and mints for later in the day when they are in long meetings.

The Hilton family of hotels also provides for the luxury minded consumer as well.

They provide mp3 capable alarm clocks in the room with preset buttons for local radio

stations in genres such as news and talk radio, rock, jazz, classical, and other types of

music, all with their traveler in mind. They have the technologies available for the family

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or pleasure minded traveler to easily find the perfect type of hotel online, through the

reservations hotline, or even on their smart phone. They provide the technology for

vacationing guests to be able to order movies that are still in theaters, so they can relax in

their room and enjoy their stay. Hilton also provides the searches necessary for the guest

to find a family friendly hotel, all the way up to a super exclusive luxury stay or an all-

inclusive resort.

The Hilton company has also ensured the privacy of the consumer. They allow a

streamlined, protected reservations system so that guests may book stays, while

maintaining saved credit card information and points systems. They have ensured that

their employees are of moral character through extensive screening and background

checks in order to further ensure the safety of pertinent information. They also provide in

room safes and high quality door lock systems to keep their guests physically safe.

In conclusion, the Hilton family of hotels has established the leading technology

in the hotel industry. Whether it is on the side of the guest looking for convenience,

quality, and luxury, or the employee looking to provide the best, most efficient form of

service, they have established a proven system. They have striven to ensure each

customer knows the amenities and advantages available to them and their level of

technological savvy. They have guaranteed each employee is able to work freely with as

little stress as possible in such a fast paced environment because of the technology they

have made available. Each technological venture has been tested and has upheld the

standard of quality, value, and convenience Hilton hotels are known for. Overall, these

things have proven Hilton to be the most advanced, highest quality leader in the hotel

industry today.

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Reference:

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Cuneo, E.C. (2003). The Business Value of Technology. InformationWeek. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/crm/showArticle.jhtml?

articleI D=10100065

Shein, E. (2003). Hilton Hotels CIO Talks 'OnQ'. CIO Update. Retrieved from

http://www.cioupdate.com/insights/article.php/2235231/Hilton-Hotels-CIO-

Talks-OnQ.htm

Supply Management. (2010). Bringing Together Supply Solutions. Retrieved from

http://hiltonsupply.com/social.asp