An award winning research work, using snowball sampling technique to help Indian Hotels achieve sustainability using Systems Thinking. This paper provides an overview of the systems-thinking approach and its application in the Indian Hotel Industry perspective. This study shows that systems-thinking has proved to be an effective and powerful tool to explain the complexities of the systems in a hotel. It has helped to simplify, clarify and more importantly integrate isolated problems associated with the industry, and provided a mechanism for group learning and decision making to achieve desirable outcomes. The paper, thus, is an attempt to analyse some of the most pressing-issues of Indian hotel industry and then finally apply systems-thinking to solve them for sustainable development.

1. Systems-Thinking Concept: A
Unique Tool For Sustainability
Management In The Indian
Hotel Industry
By:
Baijnath Pandey
Sujith S. Nair

2. Agenda:
Research Methodology/Objective/Key-Words
Overview: Indian Hotel Industry
Sustainability Management
Systems-Thinking…What Is It???
Applying Systems-Thinking in Indian Hotels
Context
31-Oct-14 Manasamanthana-2011 2

3. KeyWords:
Open system, sustainability, systems-thinking, resources,
and sustainable hotel management
Objective:
To understand and analyse some of the most common and
critical issues of Indian hotel industry and then finally
apply systems-thinking to solve them for sustainable
development.
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4. Data Collection Method:
Primary Data:
From hotel executives, of four core operation departments
Secondary Data:
Books, journals, magazines, previous-research works and
websites of international repute
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5. Sampling Method:
Snowball sampling
Sampling Units:
Sampling units are the hotels in the four geographical
divisions of India
Sampling Size:
25 hotel executives in India, belonging to 25 different
hotels such as Taj, ITC, Oberoi, Leela, Marriot, Hyatt,
Park etc
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6. Agenda:
Research Methodology/Objective/Key-Words
Overview: Indian Hotel Industry
Sustainability Management
Systems-Thinking…What Is It???
Applying Systems-Thinking in Indian Hotels
Context
31-Oct-14 Manasamanthana-2011 6

7. Indian hotels have a supply of around
1, 10,000 rooms
58.4 million inbound tourists in 2009-2010
Demands expected to soar to 70 million per yr by 2014
A situation of shortage of about 150,000 hotel-rooms,
fuelling to the tariff
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8. Encouraging picture for the Indian hotel industry
However…….
This also raises the challenge of not only to meet these
demands but also to sustain in the long run
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9. Agenda:
Research Methodology/Objective/Key-Words
Overview: Indian Hotel Industry
Sustainability Management
Systems-Thinking…What Is It???
Applying Systems-Thinking in Indian Hotels
Context
31-Oct-14 Manasamanthana-2011 9

10. “Everything is connected with
everything else; but not all things are
connected by the short and straight
roads we expected.”
CS Lewis

11. “Systems-thinking is a discipline for identifying the
underlying structures in complex situations and for
discerning high leverage points. Systems-thinking is
also an analytical approach that addresses a system
and its associated external context as a whole that
cannot be analysed solely through reduction of the
system to its component parts.”
Dr. Oswald Mascarenhas

12. 11 Laws of Systems Thinking
Law -1: Today’s problems come from
yesterday’s solutions.
Law-2: The harder you push, the harder the
system pushes back.
Law-3: Behaviour grows better before it
grows worse
Law-4: The easy way out usually leads
back in.
Law-5: The cure can be worse than the
disease

13. Law-6: Faster is slower.
Law-7: Causes and the Effects are not
closely related in time and Space.
Law-8: Small changes can produce big
results.
Law-9: You can have your cake and eat it
too, but not at once.
Law-10: Dividing an elephant in half does
not create two elephants.
Law-11: There is no blame.

14. Agenda:
Research Methodology/Objective/Key-Words
Overview: Indian Hotel Industry
Sustainability Management
Systems-Thinking…What Is It???
Applying Systems-Thinking in Indian Hotels
Context
31-Oct-14 Manasamanthana-2011 14

15. Sustainable Construction:
Creating and operating a healthy built
environment
For example, using vacuumed glasses not only
the power of day-light but thereby reducing the
lighting fixtures
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16. 31-Oct-14 Manasamanthana-2011 16

17. Water Conservation
 It is estimated that by 2012, water use will
increase to approximately 475 gallons per day,
for the Indian hotels
 Potential impacts on the environment and
water supplies
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18. Systems’ Cause and Effect Model for
Acute
shortage in
& around
the Locality
Water conservation
CAUSE
•Water
leakage
•Inefficient
usage of
water
Depleting
Ground
Water
Level
Water to
floors
Water
from
reservoir
EFFECT
Water
Shortage
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19. Energy Efficiency
“Small changes can produce big results”.
Expensive energy requirements
Wastage of Energy
Source: Eco Energy, June 2010
Source: Eco Energy, June 2010
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20. Increased
Cost
CAUSE
Inefficient
usage of
Energy
Ineffective
Cooling
System
Light
Fixtures
Inapprop
riate
location
EFFECT
Energy
Shortage
Cause and Effect M Model for Energy Conservation
Cause and Effect Model for Energy Conservation
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21. e-waste or
Solid/liquid waste
Waste Management
Waste in hotels can be:
 e-waste
 Solid/liquid waste
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22. Cause and Effect Model for Waste Management
Effect on
Locality
CAUSE
Ineffective
Waste
Management
Environme
ntal
Pollution
Under
utilization
of
resources
Under
Usage of
Incinerator
EFFECT
Waste
Accumulation
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23. e-Waste Management
e-Waste Management
“The cure can be worse than the disease”.
Computer parts, fused lamps, card keys
Products once discarded become a potential
source of radio-active substance
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24. Solution
Inventory management
Production-process modification
Volume reduction
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25. Solid/Liquid Waste Management
The statistics showed that from 2008-2010, the hotel
waste consisted of 46% food waste, 25.3% paper, 11.7%
cardboard, 6.7% plastics, 5.6% glass, and 4.5% metals.
Waste-management can help creating a more
environmentally friendly hotel. Plus cutting down cost…
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26. “There Is No Blame”
Hotel Marriott Mumbai, India, they took up part of
the blame and have come up with expensive
device-crushers that crush over 1,000 florescent
bulbs and pack them in to 55-gallon drums. The
machine uses negative pressure ventilation and a
mercury-absorbing filter or cold trap to contain
mercury vapour.
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27. Conclusion
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28. References:
Books:
•Senge, Peter M.(1996), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and practice of Learning
organizations, New York Currency : Doubleday
•Ackoff, R. L., Magidson, J., & Addiso, H. J. (2006). Idealized design: creating
organization's future. New Jersey: Wharton School Pub.
•Mascarenhas, Oswald A. J, (2011), Business transformation strategies: the
leader as innovation manager. New Delhi: Sage Publications
•Charles,Kilbert J. (2005), Sustainable construction: green building design
Articles, Journals and Magazines:
•Han-Shen Chen, Tsuifang Hsieh, January 2011 An environmental
performance assessment of the hotel: industry using an ecological footprint,
Journal of Hospitality Management and Tourism Vol. 2 (1) pp. 1-11
•Alexander Sarah, September 2002 Green hotels: Opportunities and
Resources for Success, Zero Waste Alliance, Vol. 1
•Crawford Michael G. August 2010 Impact of hotels on biodiversity and
environment, Articlesinput.com
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29. Websites:
•http://www.zerowaste.org/publications/GREEN_HO.PDF
•http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/03/18/environmental-mission-statements-
a-list-of-hotel-sustainability-policies/ (sustainable vision statement of
hotels)
•http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/10292/840/3/UstadBH.pdf
•http://www.articleinput.com/e/a/title/Impact-of-hotels-on-biodiversity-and-environment/
•http://www.itopc.org/travel-requisite/inbound-tourism-statistics.html
•http://www.tampile.com/blog/2011/05/cfls-vs-leds-consumer-guide/
•http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1148672/#b
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_fluorescent_lamp#Human_health
•http://www.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/paper/ewaste/ewaste.html
•http://cleantechnica.com/2008/08/01/new-lighting-technology-offers-alternative-to-
cfls-and-leds
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