INVENTORY PRACTICES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF HOTEL BUSINESSES IN AWKA

INVENTORY PRACTICES AND THE SUSTAINABILITY OF HOTEL BUSINESSES IN AWKA

​​​​​​​Background of the study

The practice of hospitality involves extending a kind greeting to visitors as well as complete strangers. According to Bleigh (2022), hospitality may be described as the generous and kind welcoming of guests, visitors, or strangers through the provision of entertainment. Stocks are the stockpiles of products and supplies that are stored in a hospitality business; depending on the situation, stocks might be a hassle, a must, or a convenience (Cooper 2021). The term "stock" can refer to a variety of different things, including raw materials, work-in-progress, finished items, and commodities that are ready to be sold (Levis, 2009). When it comes to seeing and controlling the inventory of their facilities, the managers of hospitality establishments face obstacles in the form of paper-based systems and manual processes (Fagbulo, 2021). The essential quality of delivery, customer care, and service at hospitality facilities is negatively impacted when administration and resource management are not carried out effectively, which in turn has a deleterious influence on the establishment's capacity to remain profitable (Jacobs, & Chase, 2022). The term "inventory control" refers to the physical control of a company's storage locations as well as the flow of items into and out of those spaces. It also indicates how much more has to be ordered (Bim. 2003). The elimination of overstocking as a consequence of better inventory control prevents an excessive accumulation of capital losses caused by obsolescence or depreciation (Bleigh 2022). In a similar vein, stock control eradicates the practice of under-stocking materials, which leads to insufficient follow-up on delivery sites. Controlling inventory guarantees that every item purchased from the business is correctly accounted for and that any instances of theft or waste are uncovered at an early stage (Cooper 2021). It is important not to neglect the significance of inventory control practices; the determining criterion in this context is that stocks must be kept at a level that is just high enough to fulfill orders, and a steady supply of goods must be on hand whenever they are required (Fagbulo, 2021). The process of stock control directs attention to aspects of the hospitality sector that are connected to the efficient use of time, the availability of sufficient quantities of high-quality goods, and other logistical considerations (Tosdal, 2006). Procedures for inventory control are the methods that are implemented in an organization in order to ascertain how much stock it is capable of holding at any given moment and how it will keep track of that stock (Bleigh, 2009). This practice encompasses stock at every stage of the production process, beginning with purchases and ending with reordering of items, whether they have been used or not (Jacobs, & Chase, 2022). This idea revolves around the fact that stores, as service-oriented departments, are tasked with the responsibility of supplying the entire organization with the appropriate materials. These materials must be delivered and issued in the appropriate quantities and quality, and they must be accessible at the appropriate time, place, and cost (Levis, 2009). The practice of inventory control has the goal of ensuring that the conditions outlined above are met by providing the information necessary to take appropriate action at every stage of the production process or operation. This can be accomplished by ensuring that accurate counts are taken of all items in stock (Bleigh 2022). The technique of inventory control is essential for the hospitality business if the hosts wish to provide their customers with a balanced selection. This necessitates that each and every item maintained in stock be subject to control (Cooper 2021). This results in up-to-date information as well as a reduction of excesses to the smallest possible amount. Various hospitality businesses each implement their own set of methods that are most suitable for them (Cooper, 2006). For human beings, the capacity to endure is what we refer to as sustainability. Stewardship refers to the responsible management of resource consumption, and it is an essential part of the concept of sustainability, which refers to the long-term maintenance of well-being that includes environmental, economic, and social dimensions (Jacobs & Chase, 2008). In the context of the hospitality industry, inventory control is centered on the responsible management of resources, which will help in increasing the economic aim of a hospitality business, which is the profit margin; the environmental aim of a hospitality business, which is the physical environment and service delivery of the hospitality sector; and the social aim of a hospitality business, which is the experience and satisfaction that guests get from the hospitality industry (Wikipedia, 2011). When applied to stock control, the three pillars of sustainability described above will help the hospitality industry advance in the various aspects of its services and existence. This is because, as Aplewhite (2004) rightly pointed out, effective stock control plays a vital role in the smooth and efficient running of hospitality establishments (Fagbulo, 2021).

In the majority of hospitality establishments, the mismanagement of items and a low profit margin has become the standard operating procedure. There is a lack of effective control over the inventory of materials for production and operational activities, which can be linked to the mismanagement as well as other negative effects (Jacobs, & Chase, 2022). The majority of hospitality businesses have failed to recognize the significance of stock control, which has resulted in a variety of undesirable practices, including theft, pilferage, shortages, wastages, inappropriate accounting and inadequate record keeping, as well as other types of losses, because these businesses are unable to adequately account for the utilization and management of materials such as food items, toiletries, supplies, stationary, production equipment, cleaning and laundry materials, and so on (Bleigh 2022). This presents a significant challenge in terms of restricted production and service, a slim margin for profit, and an inability to fulfill the requirements of customers and guests. Because of the difficulties connected with inadequate inventory control, the researcher decided to start this study in order to evaluate the current state of the hospitality business and figure out how it may improve in the future (Cooper 2021). The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the contributions of Inventory control practice to the sustainability of hospitality establishments in Awka, Anambra State. Specifically the study seeks to Identify the stock control methods used in various hospitality establishments in Awka L.G.As; verify the sustainability procedures used for Inventory control in hospitality establishments in Awka L.G.A; determine the effect of Inventory control practice on the profit margin of hospitality establishments in Awka L.G.A.

Hospitality industry is one of the leading industries in the world;

It contributes to prosperity creation and further economic development of a country; it covers hotel, resorts, and travel as well as restaurant businesses.

These services business are mutually depend increase in tourism will ultimately lead to improvement in resorts, restaurants, hotel including travel industries.

This study basically concerned with assessing the strategies of the inventory control in hospitality. This will consequently access the extent to which stock can be controlled.

Source: Dennis Oscar. "Humanity and hospitality" 2011

Inventory control is a management function that involves planning organizing, directing, coordinating, motivating, staffing and controlling of activities in the store and inventory control.

On the other hand it can also be defined as the art and science of achieving objective of the store in an organization.

A fundamental problem currently faced by hospitality according to Karlin and Zipkin (2009) is the seasonal demand for their products. This problem is very common and concerns a wide variety of products such as food stuff, functions and banqueting and many other applications.

The seasonal demand issue is difficult to access for both the theorist and practitioner. The problem requires the optimal combination of inventory and production rates for each product in each time period to be found; principal question is to determine the product quality in each period so as to minimize the discounted costs of production, inventory storage, and cost sales. This type of demand usually creates more complex problem because firms usually have insufficient capacity to meet demand in high demand period.

This ultimately impacts on planning of production process as a whole.

The main thrust of this study is to map out strategies to solve the problems of seasonality of the perishable goods which is very prevalent in the Nigerian hospitality industry.

The central question here is, how can menu planning guests, and what range of perishable food items can be stored and over what period of time?. As opined by Patrick (2009) combinatorial optimization which means combining planning and inventory control to optimize guest satisfaction in the running of hospitality business remains one of the mathematical challenges.

Strategies directed towards confronting these challenges are many and varied, depending on the methods of meal preparation service and the variety of customer’s satisfaction where stocks are produced independent of orders because there is a need to supply customers immediately with good meals from that stock.

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