Wyndham international fostering high-touch with high-tech free essay sample

The Harvard Business Review case study on Wyndham International discusses the inception of the hotel company, its initial exponential growth followed by a rapid decline in 1999 due to various external and internal factors. The organization restructuring and changes in management introduced several guest loyalty programs, ByRequest in particular, to allow Wyndham International to reestablish its brand. This paper discusses the strategies followed by Wyndham International and identifies role of Information Resources (IR) in implementing the ByRequest program. In the final analysis, the paper identifies issues with customer signup and integration the various IR systems for the ByRequest program, limiting Wyndham in achieving its business goal in a more robust nature. Wyndham’s Business Wyndham International, a company in lodging industry, enjoyed significant tax benefits in the initial years under the REIT status and expanded continuously. Wyndham managed and owned most of its hotel properties, while in lodging industry hotel management and ownership were normally separated. We will write a custom essay sample on Wyndham international: fostering high-touch with high-tech or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But policy changes in 1999 resulted in a drop of 80% of Wyndham’s stock price, forcing the company to sell most of its low-end properties and focus on business and leisure travellers in the upscale segment of the market. Opportunities and Threats With changes in government policies, Wyndham faced serious threats of financial debt. Low customer recognition was also hurting its market share. Fierce competition and commoditized service made it difficult to bring in profit. Nevertheless, there was an opportunity as well, that if the company could successfully differentiate itself from competitors, it would harness more profit. Business Strategies and Objectives In order to navigate through the competition, Wyndham changed its management team and came up with new customer loyalty program, ByRequest, and started to focus on upscale market. The objective was to establish Wyndham brand. ByRequest program has also differentiated Wyndham from its competitors as opposed to point based loyalty program. Since, it provided a unique service to every customer as per the request, this in turn increased the customer satisfaction and loyalty towards Wyndham’s service. Organizational Capabilities: Strengths and Weaknesses As mentioned previously, Wyndham both owns and runs its hotel properties. These business operations give Wyndham the ability to deploy new assets faster than competitors, where its business strategy can be easily integrated with its investment model. Wyndham had also started moving towards centralized IT infrastructure and integrated IT systems. If this succeeded, the move would have given Wyndham more power to adopt its business strategies. Wyndham also had some weaknesses. During 1999, Wyndham’s management team was going through major organizational changes.. So, around that time there was an unstable internal environment for Wyndham to execute its operations. From 2000 to 2002, still outsourced IT infrastructure and segmented IT system also pose difficulties for Wyndham to adopt an integrated business solution. Organizational Strategies and Objectives Wyndham changed its management team after the 1999 shake up. New management was appointed to develop and implement new strategies for the company, which in deed came out with a set of plans including the ByRequest program. Down the management chain, Wyndham had direct control over its hotel management teams. So, Human Resource operations could be easily executed at the property level. At the operation level, positions of hotel general manager and ByRequest manager were separated. ByRequest manager had some power over spending money on customers. General manager was responsible for the profit regarding the property. Employees’ incentive plan was also based on the profitability from the property. Wyndham’s organizational strategy was to try and align with its business strategy. By giving ByRequest manager the power of budget so that the Manager has the opportunity to serve the customer better, improved the overall customer satisfaction. This way, the organization was able to reach their objectives [Rajasekaran, 2011] Role of IR and Existing IR Set-up The role of Wyndham’s internal resources (IR) is in the strategic quadrant. Because Wyndham relies on its IR not only for running its business on a daily basis, but also for differentiating itself from its competitors. If IR had failed, ByRequest managers would not be able to match reservations with the customers’ profile, thus Wyndham would have failed to deliver their services. Without ByRequest program, Wyndham would have been providing just the same service as its competitors. The time when the ByRequest program was introduced formally (2000), Wyndham just started to centralize its IR infrastructure. The . ASP model was adopted to provide faster deployment of IT infrastructure. Until 2002, Wyndham was still in the process of centralizing its PMS and callaccounting system. Centralization of revenue management and POS had to be put into the agenda, but had not ben actually started. Prior to 2000, a subsidiary of Wyndham was serving its IT infrastructure. Wyndham’s IR Strategy (ByRequest Program) ByRequest program was an IT backed system to provide customizable services for its customers. Customers had to sign up, either by themselves or with the help of the hotel staff. A profile of customer was saved in the ByRequest System. Once entered, all profiles awere available throughout all properties of Wyndham, to be used by hotel managers. Thus, the managers could provide customized services to their guests based on the guests’ profiles. Wyndham planned to use this IR strategy to save customer preferences in a central location and sync the data with every hotel branch. This innovative idea brought two advantages to Wyndham. First customers were able to request special services when booking rooms with Wyndham. Second, the customers’ preferences were available for the future stays at Wyndham. Thus, customizations could be made by hotel managers to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Other IR strategies were adopted by Wyndham to ensure the implementation of ByRequest program. First, Wyndham was bringing its IT operation in-house, so Wyndham could exercise more control. Second, Wyndham was starting to centralizing its IT system, e. g. PMS and CRS. Centralization plays an important role in standardizing business process and ensuring availability of customer data. Third, Wyndham adopted the . ASP model while implementing new systems, which ensured fast deployment time and standardized implementation process. These IT strategies played critical roles in delivering ByRequest program. Analysis Wyndham’s current IR set-up helped the IR strategy as mentioned in the previous section. Because an integrated, standardized and centralized IT infrastructure was very important for the execution of ByRequest program. But effort had to be made continuously, as Wyndham was still in the middle of improving its IT infrastructure. However, ByRequest program was not enough to help Wyndham to achieve its business strategy for three main reasons: First, customer signup process was essentially long and complicated. In lodging industry, service is very important because of the fierce competition and low customer switching cost. An extended signup process doesn’t fit the business environment and the primary goal to serve customers better. But, without the signup process, Wyndham’s ByRequest service could not be delivered at all. Second, Wyndham’s organization strategy did not completely fit into its ByRequest program. The General Manager was majorly responsible for the overall profitability of hotel, but the ByRequest Manager could spend more money on customer in order to keep them satisfied. We know, customer satisfaction is a vague measure, and conflicts with general manager’s responsibility. Also employees’ incentive is based on profitability, which further conflicts with the long term vision of customer satisfaction. Third, ByRequest system wasn’t integrated with the PMS system. Customer had to give her/his member id upon arrival for ByRequest manager to know what she or he needed. Thus the manager could not prepare in advance. And in the case of customer forgetting her or his id (which would happen almost all the time), service could not be delivered, which resulted in bad customer experiences. In order for ByRequest to succeed, a streamlined customer signup process was very essential to be established. Wyndham also had to improve its organization strategy so that employee incentive was aligned with its business goal, and nothing got between ByRequest manager and customer. Last, deep integration of various information systems of Wyndham was supposed to be deeply integrated, for ByRequest Manager to respond to customer’s needs before they arrive.

Economic Geography Essay Sample - Understands the Essay Sample

Economic Geography Essay Sample - Understands the Essay SampleWhen you choose an economic geography essay sample, you should be aware of a few things before you make your selection. This essay sample is not the same for everyone and if you are not careful you could end up with a piece that does not meet your standards. Here are some important things to think about before you choose a geography essay writing sample.The first thing you need to consider is whether or not you should hire an instructor for your essay. There are several factors to consider when it comes to this. First, you will likely have less of an opportunity to see the essay in the classroom. Second, most colleges do not offer such a service. If you choose a class on economic geography as your essay topic, you will need to select one of the online economic geography essay samples available.The next factor to consider is whether or not geographic essays can be used in college. You will probably need to consult with an a dmissions officer at your college before you finalize your essay. Most colleges would not allow geography to be used as an essay topic, but there are many colleges that allow the use of geography as a theme in an essay.You will also need to consult with your instructor to find out if he or she is comfortable with your essay due to certain topic. You should always consult with your instructor before submitting your essay. You want to know that the professor is comfortable with the topic of your essay before you submit it.Your instructor may allow you to submit your essay to a common resource such as the College Board. This will help you become familiar with a variety of essay topics for various courses. This is a good idea if you are not comfortable with certain geographic essays.Your professor may also allow you to write research papers. These are usually done as small projects. You will probably have to make several revisions to your research paper so you will have to become famili ar with the topic before submitting it. This is an excellent way to become familiar with geography and any other topic you may want to write about.A third consideration is to consult with a counselor or advisor to see if you would like to take an exam in order to qualify for credit on the essay sample. This option is not offered at all colleges, so if you are considering it, be sure to check with your college's requirements first. The topic of geography is considered to be an elective and you may be asked to take the course to meet this requirement. Many schools require their students to take this test to fulfill this requirement.Once you decide which essay sample you want to use, you will need to ensure that the essay meets your expectations. Consider all of these factors before you commit to anything. Knowing what to expect will help you be prepared for the assignment and ensure you have a quality essay when it is due.