Cambridge Suites Halifax Case Study

Identify the real, root problem of this case

After realizing that the hotel industry grows in 10 years cycle, In the year 1994 Paul saw an opportunity to go towards a quality management company. Paul Stackhouse wanted to transform the corporate culture to build a competitive age with a sharp focus on customer service.

 

The first problem Paul faced was convincing corporate. Although he managed to obtain corporate approval it was for a one-year-long pilot program. And Paul felt senior management did not really understand or felt the same way about becoming a quality company.

This meant Paul had limited time and skeptical management who would question any lack of progress in the initiatives, since things were going well with existing approach.

The second problem was after the project was decided the teams had to spend 2 – 3 hours a week for 12 weeks. And we see many team members left or were replaced or took a transfer to another property. Junior staff felt intimidated about their appointment and participation on the teams. Front line employees were not motivated at all, which was a huge obstacle. Mostly because, whatever decision the project team takes, the frontline staff would have to implement those.

Next, for the Paper reduction and electricity bill reduction projects, we see the team members admitted that they were not sure if the project was going to work and they were not sure about what they could do, so they were dependent on supervisors. This shows that not everyone had an idea about the need for these changes or how these changes were going to help and how to implement these changes.

The The next challenge was the most crucial one. Paul realized that the front-line employees have a wealth of information about customer expectation, but they were not involved in decision making, and Paul was not sure about how to access this information or how to implement TQM in a service-based industry for long term success.

 Diagnose the fundamental cause(s)

I feel management was excited about the prospect of developing a long-term competitive edge. But Paul did not have a complete plan about how to get there, so the management team did not have enough information to get on board on this.

The frontline employees were incentivized to attend the meeting and put another 2-3 hours of work every week, but they did not have enough information about how these changes were going to help. In fact, they saw their co-workers leaving, that must have given then some stress.

We see enough evidence that Paul had an idea about where he wanted to take the hotel but he did not have any concrete plan about what exact changes to implement or how to implement them.

Possible alternatives available to the partners

I think Paul should have done a better job in planning and communicating the implementation plan, the need for it, and the possible outcome. Now, figuring out what changes are required or how to implement those changes would have taken a lot of brainstorming. 

The management should include department heads in the discussions, layout the plan and goals. That way, the department heads can help the management determine what is feasible.

And more importantly, they should hire external help or consultants to figure out goals and plan to implement those goals. Next step should be taking everyone onboard, explain the goals, why those are necessary, where are we going with these and then how to implement those.

Or, they could take direct feedback from customers with a survey form to determine what area customers would like to change. Then they could prioritize those requests and then check those requests to determine which one is possible to implement and impact and what is not. Or determine the changes that would make a positive impact for most customers and then start working on implementing those.

Hiring consultants and brainstorming with management and other property managers might discover some ways to optimize implementation plan or some changes.

 Evaluate their plan of action (decision/implementation)

The plan of action which was followed was not perfect, it was not comprehensive, they did not have a roadmap on what they wanted to do after the 2 projects. There was no impact analysis, on how the customers would be impacted, whether they will like it or not, and how those changes impacted the occupancy rate.

Next, the frontline employees were not well informed or motivated to accomplish the projects. They should have been informed about the goals and plans. And they should have been incentivized and taken on board.

 

 

State the importance and relevance of the case to the study of business.  

Any service-based business can refer to this case study. As, if they want to remain relevant in 10 years they will have to evolve and make some changes. This case study is a great example and showcases what kind of challenges to expect.

And this case study is a great example of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The management had the intrinsic motivation. Paul was motivated because he was interested in making changes and he had the vision to take the hotel at a certain place with making changes,

The department manager had motivation because they wanted acknowledgment from higher managers. Studies have shown to be Recognition and appreciation of employees by management main factors that motivate good performance in a number of different contexts (Analoui, 2000; Lundin and Soderholm, 1995). And these motivations are psychological, so these are intrinsic motivators.

The frontline employees were motivated externally. Some of them were demotivated by change and uncertainty. But then some were attending meetings and working extra our every week for incentives, which worked as motivators.

 

 

References -

Analoui, F. (2000). What motivates senior managers? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 15(4), 324-340

Lundin, R. A. & Soderholm, A. (1995). A theory of temporary organizations. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 11(4), 437-455.