Alton Au

Iyanuoluwa Suru

Summative

Submission Due Date:

This assignment involves preparing a 4,000-word case study report on your understanding of Operations Management (OM). You are required to use theories, concepts, and contemporary practices to support your argument. Use examples from the case study (TUI Group), further research, and the tourism industry where necessary to demonstrate a clear understanding of the theories, concepts, and contemporary practices of OM and why they are important for organisational performance.

The report must be submitted in Microsoft WORD format. You must include appropriate in- text citations and references according to the CCCU Harvard Referencing Style.

Case Study: TUI Group

TUI Group stands as one of the leading tourism companies globally, with operations extending across the world. Headquartered in Germany, TUI serves over 19 million customers by offering comprehensive services from a single source. It integrates the entire tourism value chain within one organization. This encompasses more than 400 hotels and resorts under prestigious brands such as RIU, TUI Blue, and Robinson. Additionally, the Group operates 17 cruise ships, including luxury vessels like the MS Europa and MS Europa 2, expedition ships, and the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises, as well as Marella Cruises in the United Kingdom.

TUI's extensive portfolio also features leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms across Europe, alongside five airlines that collectively operate over 130 state-of-the- art medium and long-haul aircraft. The Group is supported by approximately 1,200 travel agencies. While expanding its core offerings in hotels and cruises through successful joint ventures and activities in holiday destinations, TUI is placing increased emphasis on the development and enhancement of digital platforms.

Over the past two years, TUI Group has achieved significant growth, driven by strategic investments in distinctive hotel and cruise offerings, alongside advanced IT platforms. This growth has enabled the company to make a robust recovery from the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. By consistently meeting customer expectations through timely services and exceptional hotel experiences, TUI has demonstrated its commitment to quality, reflected in a Net Promoter Score of 52 achieved in April 2024.

The Group maintains a strong focus on delivering high-quality experiences while

simultaneously enhancing choice and flexibility in its offerings, including flight options and hotel sourcing. TUI aims to expand its core product range by complementing its traditional package deals with dynamic packages and single-component options. This strategy is designed to provide customers with greater variety, deliver more personalised experiences, and uphold its reputation for outstanding customer service.

A key strategy to achieve these objectives involves the creation of a new organisational structure within the Markets and Airline division. The marketing division will operate under centralised management, ensuring integration across regions, which will streamline operations and maximise resource utilisation. At the same time, regional teams will concentrate on addressing the specific needs of local customers, overseeing flight capacity, trading, distribution, and localised marketing initiatives.

This reorganisation aims to make the company more agile and scalable, providing customers with enhanced booking flexibility and access to a broader range of products. Such transformation is poised to support TUI's global growth ambitions. Additionally, TUI Group seeks to further expand its ability to deliver high-quality holiday experiences by investing in partnership models and joint ventures with organizations like Expedia, National Geographic, and Love holiday. Through this collaboration, Love holiday customers will gain the opportunity to book National Geographic Day Tours, which have been developed in partnership between TUI and National Geographic Expeditions.

To standardise its processes, TUI is enhancing the digital customer experience by introducing a unified customer account. This includes implementing a standardised payment system, providing access to a comprehensive suite of products, and expanding the number of touchpoints for holidays and experiences to better engage customers. In the competitive airline industry, TUI has focused on achieving cost efficiency by streamlining its fleet, reducing the number of aircraft types from several to just three. This approach is supported by the implementation of a centralised fleet management system, which fosters cross-functional collaboration, and the establishment of a single maintenance operations control centre.

Additionally, TUI is consolidating and standardising other operational and financial systems to adopt a more data-driven approach. In TUI Musement, a new system for managing employee expenses and liquidation has been introduced across various countries. This system ensures uniformity, promotes consistent data entry, enhances flexibility, and improves expense control.

Within the Markets & Airline segment, TUI Group has expanded the volume of dynamic packaging and supply, enhancing choice and flexibility for customers without increasing operational costs. One way this was achieved was through a partnership with Ryan Air in February 2024, which provides TUI customers with a broader selection of flight options when booking their trips. To further optimise operations, TUI is developing a centralised capacity demand management function to improve seat supply for both in-house and third-party carriers.

TUI's people strategy emphasizes fostering a digitally inclusive and engaging work environment. This includes establishing a framework designed to empower employees to perform at their best, collaborate effectively as a team, and enrich the overall employee experience. In 2024, as part of this initiative, 30,000 employees received training in generative AI, equipping them with forward-looking skills to support future growth and innovation.

To enhance customer experience, TUI has partnered with analytics experts to collect and analyse data on successful searches, errors, and checkout progress. Insights derived from this data have driven TUI to implement strategic changes, resulting in improved profit conversion rates. By leveraging data intelligently, TUI ensures a more reliable and consistent customer

journey, consistently exceeding customer expectations.

Operating in the price-sensitive tourism industry, TUI Group spans multiple components of the value chain. To maintain profitability, deliver customer value, and foster strong partnerships, TUI transitioned its ERP financial system from Oracle to SAP in 2020 to achieve more efficient process automation. However, the scale and complexity of TUI’s operations presented challenges, including the need to process over 5 million supplier invoices annually. This automation initiative is designed to help senior management gain better cost insights, improve invoice accuracy, and promote synergy across various business locations. Eliminating manual processes has not only saved time and effort but also streamlined financial information consolidation.

Sustainability has emerged as a central focus for TUI Group, with the organization leveraging its global reach to drive the sustainable transformation of the travel industry. As part of its 2030 sustainability agenda, TUI aims to achieve significant emissions reductions: 24% for its airline operations, 27.5% for its cruise business, and 46.2% for its hotels and resorts. These goals will be accomplished through measures such as fleet renewal, the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels, energy-efficient ship operations, increased use of renewable energy, and resource-saving practices.

TUI is also committed to ensuring that local communities benefit from tourism by empowering changemakers with the skills and knowledge necessary to innovate and transform the industry. Working in collaboration with its partners, TUI is dedicated to helping customers make sustainable holiday choices throughout their travel journeys.

To sustain continuous growth, TUI’s strategy is centred on delivering differentiated product offerings, expanding the size and value of its customer ecosystem, and enhancing its brand image. This includes increasing operational and customer flexibility, advancing digital applications, and optimizing efficiencies and synergies across its business operations.

WHAT YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO DO?

You are required to study the case and then write a report of 4,000 words (this can be over or under by 10%, i.e., 400 words) in relation to your analysis of the case organisation:

1. Discuss how TUI Group manages its operations and outline the key processes involved.
2. Explain the objectives of process design, how TUI Group achieves these objectives and the benefits to their processes.
3. Evaluate how TUI Group enhances the customer experience and what strategies can be used to further enhance customer experience.
4. Examine the strategies TUI Group uses for planning, control, and quality management in its operations.
5. Analyse how TUI Group addresses, sustainability and suggest potential improvements in responsible operations.

Important:

1. This Assignment Guide should be used in conjunction with the Assignment Brief as its purpose is to provide guidance as to how best to respond to the requirements of the assignment. Both documents give an indication of what the marker will be looking for in the piece of work.
2. The task requirement is a report, not an essay or reflective journal. You must therefore ensure that your structure, outline, content, style and presentation accord with academic writing conventions for a report.

1. Headers, bullet points, pictures and graphs, bold or italics fonts should be used where appropriate in the report. Table of contents is also required.

1. Ensure appropriate formatting. For example, you should use 12-point font size, 1.5 line spacing and distribute your text evenly between margins.

1. You must use the correct Canterbury Harvard Referencing Style for your in-text citations and reference list.

1. Make sure you proofread and edit your work prior to final submission to avoid grammar, spelling, punctuation, and in-text citation mistakes as well as to ensure that you have covered everything.

1. You must use a minimum of 20 sources including textbooks, journals and other academic/credible published and web sources.

1. Do not use Wikipedia, unverifiable blogs or any software to generate your work.
2. Make sure you adhere to the required word count of the case study report (4,000) +/-10%, as 10 marks will be deducted from your total grade, if you exceed the required word count (i.e., if you exceed 4400 words) and your grade will be capped at 40%, if you write below the required wordcount (i.e., if you write below 3600 words) and the marker cannot identify if the learning outcomes have been met.

1. Read the case study from above.
2. Visit the website of TUI Group.
3. Conduct further research about the case study, theories, concepts and contemporary practices.
4. Write down a work plan or make a checklist with your tutor’s help.

1. The module title and case study should be on the first page of the assignment. Assessment Front Sheet NOT required.
2. This should be followed by a Table of Contents.

Introduction

1. What is Operations Management?
2. What is the background of TUI Group?
3. What is the aim of this report, and what will be covered in it?

Operations Management at TUI

1. What is the input-transformation-output model?
2. How can the input-transformation-output model be applied to TUI Group, and what are the key inputs, transformation processes, and outputs?

Process Design Objectives at TUI

1. What are the objectives of process design (Quality, Speed, Dependability, Flexibility, Costs and Sustainability) in operations management?
2. How does TUI achieve these process design objectives and what is the benefit to their processes?
3. What is standardisation in operations management and why is it important to TUI?
4. What are some examples of standard processes at TUI?

1. What is the capacity management framework in operations management?
2. How does TUI Group apply the capacity management framework to manage capacity?
3. Why are people important in operations management and how does TUI manage its employees?

Process Mapping at TUI

1. What is process mapping in operations management?
2. What does the customer journey look like at TUI group, are there pain points in the customer journey, and how can TUI improve customer experience?
3. What strategies can TUI use to enhance the customer experience?

Planning and Control at TUI

1. What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)?
2. How does TUI use ERP systems to manage its operations?
3. What are the benefits and challenges of implementing ERP at TUI?

Quality Management at TUI

1. What is Quality Management in Operations?
2. Why is improvement important in Operations management
3. How can TUI implement the PDCA model to improve operations?

Responsible Operations

1. What is sustainability in the context of operations management?
2. What sustainability initiatives does TUI currently have in place?
3. What additional strategies could TUI adopt to improve sustainability?

Conclusion

1. Summarise the main points discussed in the report.
2. Provide recommendations for TUI, reiterating the arguments for the importance of agile operations management for organisational performance in the 21st century.
3. Include your own opinion about the concepts, models, practices, and organisational examples covered in the report.

1. List all the sources you have used using Harvard convention. That includes every website you visited, journal/articles, textbooks and other resources you have used. If you have not used the information but just read it, do not include that in the list.
2. Your list should contain at least 20 pieces of research. All resources count as a separate piece of research.

1. You must submit a Microsoft WORD document (.docx). Other formats will not be accepted.
2. There is a Turnitin Practice Link in the Formative Activities Section on Moodle where you can upload your assignment to check for similarity.
3. You can over-write your submission 3 times before the deadline.
4. If you missed the Summative deadline, use the Late Submission link. As a rule of thumb, it will be opened for 2 working days.
5. See Assignment Brief for the due dates.

1. If you missed both the Summative and Late Submission links or if your mark is below 40%, you need to resubmit your assignment. Refer to the Assignment Brief for the opening and closing times of the Resubmission links.
2. You are entitled to Academic Support and Study Skills Support for the resubmission. Please request it with your local SST.

Core texts

• Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Burgess, N. (2023). Essentials Of Operations Management. S.L.: Pearson Education Limited.
• Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Burgess, N. (2022). Operations Management 10th edition. S.L.: Pearson Education Limited.

Recommended texts

• Johnston, R., Shulver, M., Slack, N. and Clark, G. (2021). Service Operations Management 5th edition. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
• Camilleri, M. A. (2019). Tourism planning and destination marketing. Bingley, UK Emerald Publishing.
• Paton, S., Clegg, B., Hsuan, J. and Pilkington, A. (2021). Operations management. London [U.A.] McGraw Hill.
• Robinson, P. and Jones, P. (2020). Operations Management. Oxford University Press.

Additional resources / journals

• Adhikari, A. and Bhattacharya, S. (2016). Appraisal of literature on customer experience in tourism sector: review and framework. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(4), pp.296-321.
• Agarwal, N. and Mohan, A. (2021) ‘Influence of Social Interaction on Customer Experience in Tourism Industry’, Purusharta, 14(2), pp. 104–116. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=158334009&site=ehost

-live (Accessed: 10 September 2023).

• Alonso, A.D. and Ogle, A. (2008). Exploring design among small hospitality and tourism operations. Journal of Retail & Leisure Property, 7(4), pp.325–337. doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/rlp.2008.23.
• Bozkurt, A. (2010). Tourism Industry and Standardisation: An Impossible Task?. Journal of Cukurova University Institute of Social Sciences, 19(3), 331-344.
• Bozkurt, A. (2012). Tourism Industry and Standardisation: Possibilities and Opportunities.

Çağ Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 9(1).

• Bryant, L. (2024). Unlocking further growth potential: TUI’s Markets + Airline business becomes Global Curated Leisure Marketplace | TUI UK Media Centre. [online] TUI UK Newsroom. Available at: https://www.tui.co.uk/press/unlocking-further-growth-potential- tuis-markets-airline-business-becomes-global-curated-leisure-marketplace/.
• Bustinza Sánchez, Ó.F., Vendrell-Herrero, F., Baines, T.S. and Parry, G. (2015). Service business model and performance: Unpacking the complex relationship.
• Canon Europe (2024). The Sky is the Limit: Business Process Transformation At Tui Musement With Therefore - Canon Europe. [online] Canon Europe. Available at: https://www.canon- europe.com/business/insights/case-studies/tui-musement-case-study/ [Accessed 7 Jan. 2025].
• Digital Travel Europe (2022). Here’s How TUI Boosts Revenue Through Customer Engagement and Experience. [online] Digital Travel EU 2023. Available at: https://digitaltraveleu.wbresearch.com/blog/how-tui-boosts-revenue-through-customer- engagement-experience.

• EQS News Service (2023). TUI AG: Annual Financial Report - Part 2 | UK Regulatory - EQS News. [online] www.eqs-news.com. Available at: https://www.eqs-news.com/news/uk- regulatory/tui-ag-annual-financial-report-part-2/1954029.
• Godovykh, M. and Tasci, A.D. (2020). Customer experience in tourism: A review of definitions, components, and measurements. Tourism Management Perspectives, 35, p.100694.
• Hopwood, J. (2020). TUI Achieves End-to-End Automation of Financial Processes - InsideSAP. [online] InsideSAP. Available at: https://insidesap.com/tui-achieves-end-to-end-automation- of-financial-processes-with-kofaxs-process-director-for-sap/ [Accessed 7 Jan. 2025].
• International Airlines Group (IAG), 2023. Annual Report and Accounts 2023. [PDF] Available at: https://www.iairgroup.com (Accessed: 29 September 2024].
• Jakulin, T.J. and Golob, A. (2015). Systems Approach to Standardisation, Classification and Modelling of Managed Events for Tourism. Organizacija, 48(3), pp.188–197. doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/orga-2015-0016.
• Kropp, N. (2023). CASE STUDY: Digital transformation at TUI. [online] Aircraftit.com. Available at: https://www.aircraftit.com/articles/case-study-digital-transformation-at-tui/?area=mro [Accessed 7 Jan. 2025].
• Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C. (2016). Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey. Journal of Marketing, [online] 80(6), pp.69–96.
• Li, K., Ji, C., He, Q., & Rastegar, R. (2023). Understanding the sense-making process of visitor experience in the integrated resort setting: Investigating the role of experience-centric attributes. International Journal of Tourism Research, 25(5), 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.2584
• London Stock Exchange (2024). London Stock Exchange | London Stock Exchange. [online] Londonstockexchange.com. Available at: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news- article/TUI/tui-group-half-year-financial-report-1-october-2023-31-march-2024/16470940 [Accessed 7 Jan. 2025].
• So, K.K.F., Li, X. and Kim, H. (2020). A decade of customer engagement research in hospitality and tourism: A systematic review and research agenda. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 44(2), pp.178-200.
• Travel and Tour World (2024). TUI Group expands into a Global Curated Leisure Marketplace after two years of remarkable growth in Markets + Airline and travel experiences - Travel And Tour World. [online] Travel and Tour World. Available at: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/tui-group-expands-into-a-global- curated-leisure-marketplace-after-two-years-of-remarkable-growth-in-markets-airline-and- travel-experiences/.
• TUI Group (2022). Strategy. [online] www.tuigroup.com. Available at: https://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/about-us/about-tui-group/strategy-new.
• TUI Group (2023). Strategy. [online] www.tuigroup.com. Available at: https://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/investors/strategy.
• TUI Group (2024a). TUI shapes the future of work with AI. [online] www.tuigroup.com. Available at: https://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/media/press-releases/2024/2024-03-12- TUI-shapes-the-future-of-work-with-ai.

• TUI Group (2024b). TUI Sustainability Agenda Tourism: A Force for Good. [online] Available at:https://www.tuigroup.com/damfiles/default/tuigroup- 15/de/nachhaltigkeit/sustainability-2022/202302-TUI-Sustainability-Agenda-ENGLISH- Final.pdf-85d0061f09b9614570dec5691880c7e0.pdf.

Journals:

• The Journal of Operations Management (JOM)
• Operations Management Research
• International Journal of Operations & Production Management
• International Journal of Supply and Operations Management
• Production and Operations Management
• Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply
• Manufacturing & Service Operations Management
• Strategic Management Journal
• Journal of Strategy and Management
• Journal of Sustainable Tourism

Further Digital Resources

• ABI/INFORM Collection (ProQuest)
• Academic Search Index
• arXiv
• Business Source Complete (EBSCO Publishing)
• Construction News
• Economist
• Emerald Management Reviews (Emerald)
• Entrepreneurial Studies Source
• eBook Business Collection (EBSCOhost)
• eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
• FT.com
• GOBI E-books
• Harvard Business Review
• IndianJournals.com
• Industry Studies Working Papers
• JSTOR Journals
• Pearson
• Princeton University Press
• Sage Academic Books
• SCOPUS (Elsevier)
• Wiley

This assignment should be submitted electronically via Moodle (module tutors will discuss this process with you during class time).

• You must submit your work in Microsoft WORD document format. 
• You can submit your work as many times as you like before the submission date. If you do submit your work more than once, your earlier submission will be replaced by the most recent version.
• Please ensure that you have submitted your work in the correct link on the assessment tab. Also note that students may be penalised for submitting their assessments in the wrong link. 
• Once you have submitted your work, you will receive a digital receipt as proof of submission, which will be sent to your forwarded e-mail address (provided you have set this up). Please keep this receipt for future reference, along with the original electronic copy of your assignment.
• You are reminded of the University’s regulations on academic misconduct, which can be viewed on the University website: Academic Misconduct Policy. In submitting your assignment, you are acknowledging that you have read and understood these regulations.
• It is the complete and sole responsibility of the student to upload their assessment to Turnitin for Marking prior to the specified deadline. Students should not request lecturers to submit assessments on their behalf as they are unable to do so.
• To avoid uploading issues, students should aim to upload their assessment several hours prior to the deadline to avoid Turnitin issues around the deadline time or accidentally submitting to the wrong submission link. It is recommended to check that the assessment that has been uploaded is able to be read after you have uploaded it and if not to re-upload it. Contact the SST on your campus if you have any issues.
• Any assessment submitted after the specified deadline will incur a late penalty as specified in CCCU Academic regulations unless prior approval has been granted for Exceptional Circumstances.

Your work will be assessed on the extent to which it demonstrates your achievement of the stated learning outcomes for this assignment (see above) and against other key criteria, as defined in the University’s institutional grading descriptors. If it is appropriate to the format of your assignment and subject area, a proportion of your marks will also depend on your use of academic referencing conventions.

If you fail this assessment, you will have to resubmit an Individual assignment. This assignment will be marked according to the grading descriptors for Level 5.