Activity (Cluster Training Series: Hospitality & Tourism)

An effective way to resolve customer complaints in the hospitality and tourism industry is to

• A) be aware of common triggers of conflict.

• B) understand what guests truly want.

• C) maintain an authoritative attitude.

• D) escalate conflict to upper management

Answer explanation

Understand what guests truly want. In the hospitality and tourism industry, understanding what is truly driving customers' complaints is essential. When you understand what guests want, you can easily fulfill their needs and resolve conflict. Being aware of common triggers of conflict can help prevent conflict rather than resolve it. Hospitality and tourism employees should maintain a positive attitude rather than an authoritative attitude. Finally, hospitality and tourism employees do not necessarily need to escalate conflict to upper management.

Cara recently purchased a local coffee shop from Tom. She runs the day-to-day operations of the coffee shop—hiring employees, ordering goods, and determining daily specials. She is happy running the coffee shop as it is and has no plans to expand. What does this situation exemplify?

• A) Cara is a wholesaler.

• B) Cara is an entrepreneur.

• C) Cara is a franchisor.

• D) Cara is a small-business owner.

Answer explanation

Cara is a small-business owner. A small-business owner is an individual who owns a business venture to generate income without intentions of growing or expanding the business. Because Cara purchased the coffee shop from someone else, and she has no desire to expand the business, she is a small-business owner. An entrepreneur is an individual who invents, develops, and distributes a good or provides a service, and assumes the risks and rewards of starting and building the business. A franchisor is a parent company and owner of the name and/or system that is being distributed through a licensing arrangement. Wholesalers are intermediaries who help move goods between producers and retailers by buying goods from producers and selling them to retailers.

Making a decision when facing an ethical dilemma will most likely make you

• A) anxious.

• B) less content.

• C) unhappy.

• D) more satisfied.

Answer explanation

More satisfied. Making a decision when facing an ethical dilemma—even if it’s tough—will make you happier, more satisfied, and less conflicted. Even if your ultimate decision when facing an ethical dilemma is to do nothing, it’s still important to make the decision instead of allowing the ethical dilemma to control your life. Making a decision is not likely to make you feel unhappy, anxious, or less content.

A cafe owner has noticed many consumers prefer strongly caffeinated tea products. They decide to offer teas and lattes made with strongly caffeinated matcha green tea. The owner is responding to

• A) a trend.

• B) the business cycle.

• C) competition.

• D) a government regulation.

Answer explanation

A trend. The business owner's offering of matcha green tea drinks is a response to a consumer trend. There's no indication that the café owner is responding to competition, the business cycle, or a government regulation.

Which of the following is unethical behavior in the operations function of business:

• A) Developing scorecards to evaluate suppliers' performance levels

• B) Using negotiating techniques to encourage a vendor to make concessions

• C) Sharing a vendor's competitive bid information with another supplier

• D) Setting deadlines for vendors to submit their bids

Answer explanation

Sharing a vendor's competitive bid information with another supplier. It is unfair for a business to share a vendor's bid information with another supplier because it provides one supplier with an advantage over the other. Using negotiating techniques to obtain concessions, developing scorecards to evaluate suppliers' performance levels, and setting deadlines for bids are ethical activities.