A work measurement application for hotel housekeeping management

Motion and time studies are an important component in Taylor's Scientific Management Approach. Time studies are extensively used in production industries, and they have also been used recently in service industries. Nevertheless, only a few applications of motion and time studies exist in the hospitality industry. This paper focuses on the challenges involved in applying motion and time studies to a hotel-room cleaning department. The second part of the paper employs stochastic process analysis for determining the steady-state probabilities of room status and, using the time standards from the first part, approximates labour requirements for effective room cleaning. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the applicability of time studies for hotels and with suggestions for future research.