Recognising the need to Digitize

Whether it is for reasons of going green or just for plain convenience, technology has helped pave the way for digital management when it comes to business. Not to say hard copies have become completely obsolete, but slowly but surely it may be the reality. My last task before my internship comes to an end is to digitize Miri Marriott’s media clippings. You may all recall doing media clippings in PR250, and I’m sure some of you already doing your internships have been delegated to do this.

Firstly, a little detour first of how it works around here (if PR250 didn't quite make sense and you were doing that assignment just for the sake of getting it done – guilty!): Daily newspapers are collected (all local/national/online publications) and I have to go through them looking for articles about the hotel (media presence), other hotels in Miri (competitive analysis) and hospitality/tourism-related articles across Sarawak, Sabah and West Malaysia (industry monitoring) – the articles about the hotel (excluding our own advertisements) are considered free media coverage and I must calculate the value of such articles. Bare with me, this is where it gets a little confusing: this is done by measuring the article’s length and multiplying that by the number of columns based on figure 1. The result is then multiplied by set prices for each publication (see figure 2)– as I said it's all a bit confusing at first but that’s what the tables are for.

Figure 1

Figure 2

All the articles I collect are filed to be circulated monthly within the hotel to the General Manager and all Executive Committee members. It’s not the most exciting job in the world, but it’s just one of those things that needs to be done. Personally, it’s kind of nice to start the day reading up on some news (you never know what you might find – I once found an article entitled “Know Your Poo” – and it was rather hilarious) plus you get to be a little arts and crafty. As with all hard copies, they can get damaged or go missing along the way – so my boss though it best just to scan it all, make it into a pdf and email it – easy peasy! And this is where digital management comes in: creation, storage and retrieval are now at a click of a button (or two). But it also has other perks for overall business but you will find many of the points are similar: 

• With faster access to and retrieval of information logically means faster business transactions;

• With quicker access to all of the right information means staff are better informed and can make better decisions faster;

• Less time is spent looking for information;

• Easier information sharing not just internally across the hotel and other franchises;

• (My personal favourite) saving paper means saving trees – particularly important for this part of the world;

• Clutter-free offices – it frees up some space where all the filing used to be.

The only cons to digital management is that technology can let you down, all it takes is one crash and it’s all gone, or some hacker extraordinaire to snoop, steal or unleash a virus. The solutions to such issues would be to make sure to do regular back-ups and make sure system security is top notch. We are creatures that crave convenience and the same goes for how we want to do business; making use of technology and choosing digital management is a more effective and efficient way of doing business.

Rachel Salinah Jackson

15624958

Miri Campus

Truly Embracing CSR

Miri Marriott’s (CSR) Christmas Wish Tree project came to an end last Friday. After 3 months of preparation, we delivered all 442 gifts/money donated by guests, associates and friends of Miri Marriott to the various orphanages, disability centres and the hospital. It was an experience that brought on a rollercoaster of emotions, but an experience I will remember and treasure forever. It did get me thinking about CSR; how some companies (corporations) choose not to do it and for some that do it’s all just a load of green, blue or pinkwashing.

Personally, to experience what I experienced last week, it is worth all the time, all the money and all the effort. It’s a given that acts of CSR are not going to solve all the world’s problems (it would be amazing if they could!) but it is a way for companies to extend a helping hand to society, while also benefiting from it themselves. Clearly the feeling of doing something good for others is not enough, so why else should companies embrace corporate social responsibility? Specifically focusing on hotel CSR, I did a little informal verbal survey among my fellow associates and came up with the following reasons:

1.    Going Green is the new frontier of innovation – Hotels are constantly trying to keep up with the times, in terms of standards and innovations. New generation travellers (Gen Y) are more environmentally conscious and this can affect where they choose to stay. Hotels are very much aware of this and must think of innovative ways to accommodate to their greener needs

2.    It saves money – CSR is one of the easiest ways to cut down on costs. Whether it’s improving energy efficiency or water use, it really can make a difference it terms of saving some money;

3.    Competitive advantage – In conjunction with point 1, CSR can set you apart from your competitors, with guests having your hotel as a preference in response to all the your positive impacts on society/environment/etc;

4.    Long-term thinking – We are all very much aware of the need to be more sustainable economically, environmentally and socially (triple-bottom-line). Long-term sustainability is just good business when you’re in it for the long run;

5.    Communicating and Connecting with Customers – CSR can help you engage with your customers on a more personal level. Since the message you want to put out is about doing something “good,” it can often be an effective way of getting customer attention as well as community attention;

6.    Employee engagement – engaging employees in the company’s CSR priorities can really aid in communication and boosting morale.

Of course different companies do CSR for different reasons. But I take back what I mentioned before about CSR not solving the world’s problems; I would like to believe that if every CEO felt what I felt giving a gift to a little girl bed-ridden in hospital and putting a smile on her face, and then felt compelled to make more people smile, the world would be a much better place. Naive? Perhaps, but maybe I'm just optimistically planting seeds for all you future CEOs :)

Rachel Salinah Jackson

15624958/7e0b8041

Curtin Miri