HTM 590 Hospitality Company Project Guidelines 4

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HTM 590 Hospitality Company Project Guidelines
Project Objectives
• To enhance student learning of strategic management in the hospitality industry
• To broaden students’ perspectives of the strategic direction and implementation in
major hospitality companies
• To train students to think critically and propose strategic direction for hospitality
companies based on projected changes in the environment
• To allow students the opportunity to take greater responsibility in their learning process
Project Overview
The project includes a written paper.The project accountsfor 200 pointsin total).This document provides
details on the project.
Four Steps
You are required to follow the following steps in completing the Project:
Step 1: Finding a hospitality company. The company can be chosen through initial research based on
your interest, appropriateness of the topic, and information availability. Assoon as youmake a
decision on a company you must provide the name of the company to the iLearn Discussion
Board “Final Project Companies” If two students choose the same company, the one that posts
to the “Final Project Companies” discussion board first will get the company. It is strongly
recommended that you select a publicly traded company due to the availability of information
pertaining to the firm. If you are choosing a private company, it should be one you are
intimately familiar with as you will need detailed information about the company to complete
the project.
Step 2: Information collection. You are required to search for information from external sources:
Internet, trade magazines, academic journals, and other literature in the libraries, and/or
interviews. You should put all the information together where you can see it and analyze what is
going on. You should also document the complete citation for every piece ofinformation collected
fromthese sources.
Step 3: Project outline. Based on the requirements of the paper below, you should develop a project
outline detailing the structure ofthe paper,related information, and sources.
Step 4: Final paper. The final manuscript needsto be professionally written and edited. Each student must
submit one copy ofthe completed final paperto iLearn.
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Strategic Analysis Report
A complete analysis of a hospitality company will be made including the overallstrategy, an evaluation of
the external and internal environment, and strategic recommendations. Each student will choose one
company in the hospitality and tourism industry that is relevant to local economy and/or students’
professional growth. Ideally the student has easy access to contemporary information about this
company.
Assessment of Strategic Analysis Report
Introduction 20 points
EnvironmentalAnalysis 100 points
Overall Strategies andChallenges 30 points
Conclusions andRecommendations 30 points
Professional Writing 20 points
Total 200points
Recommended Structure of the Paper
1. Coverpage
This page should include the project title, course title, name of the student, and submission
date.
2. Introduction (20 points)
Introduce briefly the defining characteristics ofthe firm, unique background and philosophy of
the company, including brief history,some ofits outstanding qualities, past successes,failures,
and productsorservices. What business they are in, and what in their environment (internal and
external) is creating a need for a new strategic plan. Also briefly discuss your plans objectives.
3. Environmentalanalysis (100 points)
Conduct an external and internal analysis of the company. This is essentially a SWOT analysis.
Remember, in SWOT, Strengths and Weaknesses are INTERNAL, and Opportunities and
Threats are EXTERNAL. For the External analysis, include a broad environment analysis, an
industry analysis and an examination of key external stakeholders. Focus on current and future
influential trends and factors that will shape the company’s future strategic direction. Please note
that this section should focus on analyzing significant externalfactorsthat you believewill
determine the company’sfuture strategies.In- depth analysis of each external factor is expected to
support your recommendations of strategic direction. Thissection should NOT be a list ofthe
company’s current practices or accomplishments. And itshould NOT be a comprehensive list of all
possible external factorsthat haslittle to do with your future strategic directions. For the Internal
analysis, include an analysis ofresources and capabilities,such as operations,marketing, and/or
finance. Please note that thissection should focus on analyzing significant internal factors that will
have impact on the company’s future strategies. In-depth analysis of each significant internal
factorisexpected. It is suggested you identify 4-5 of each SWOT component, i.e. 4 Strengths, 4
Weaknesses, etc. This will aid you in your development of strategies for component 4.
4. Overallstrategy and challenges(30 points)
Explain what the company’s overall corporate, business, and functionalstrategies(where
appropriate) are and explain the company’s current overallstrategic direction.Discuss and
evaluate the strategic problems and challengesthatthe company currently face with these
strategies. Publicly traded companies list their strategies on their websites and in their SEC
financial reports. It is recommended that you discuss at least 3 of the company’s’ current
strategies.
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5. ConclusionsandRecommendations(30points)
Some conclusionsshould emerge from your analysis.Based on your conclusions, you should
provide specific tactical and strategic recommendations for the company. You should provide
suggestions about potential challenges and barriers when implementing such recommendations.
This should include at least 3 strategic recommendations for your company based on the SWOT
analysis and current strategic direction of the company. These should NOT be the same as current
strategies the firm is utilizing.
6. References
Please list here all the reports, articles, books, and othermaterials used when preparing
thisreport. Please use APA style to format the references.
7. Appendices
If any, exhibits and appendices can be attached at the end of the report.
Requirements
• The report excluding the cover page and referencesshould be about 1,750 to 3,000 words
• The report needsto follow APA style.
• The main body ofthe papershould be double-spaced
• Margins should be 1”
• Font should be Times 12
Suggestions
• Start working on your project as early as possible
• Be critical, creative, and precise
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Professional Writing Requirements
Writing professionally is an essential skill for today’s business manager. At the senior level, you must
be able to write professionally. If you have trouble with grammar, sentence structure, etc., you should
use the many resources available to help you. We will not take the time to discuss grammar, sentence
structure, etc., in this class. However, I expect that the paper to be written professionally, without
grammatical errors. To encourage you to pay attention to the quality of your writing, written language
grammar and usage will account for 10% of your paper grade (20 points).
If your submitted paper contains more than TEN fatal flaws, it won’t be accepted. The “fatal flaws” are
as follows:
•Misspelled words
Example: “seperate,” vs “separate” (wrong spelling), or “too” instead of “to” (incorrect use of words that
sound alike but are differently spelled)
•Sentence fragments
Example: “Crucially important tasks to be done.” (only a predicate–no subject, no verb).
Better: This list consists of the crucially important tasks to be done.” (“This list consists” adds a subject
and a verb).
•Run-on sentences
Example: “The use of equity-based alliances is appropriate under certain specific conditions, some
situations, however, are exceptional.”
Better: “The use of equity-based alliances is appropriate under certain specific conditions; some
situations, however, are exceptional.” (use a semicolon (;) to separate two complete sentences,
not a comma(,).
More detail: proper punctuation requires a period or semicolon for any stand-alone clause (has at least a
subject and a verb), and not a comma (,). A comma is correct only when followed by a conjunction
(“and” or “or” or “but”) to link the two clauses properly. Example: “The budget was met, forecasts are
favorable” should be “The budget was met; forecasts are favorable” Or “The budget was met, and
forecasts are favorable.”
•Erroneous capitalizations
Example: “Historically, entire Civilizations routinely traded with Dutch Merchants operating out
of The netherlands.” Better: “Historically, entire civilizations routinely traded with Dutch
merchants operating out of the Netherlands.”
•Incorrect punctuation
Example: “The members of the group included Joe, CEO of XYZ Company, Mary, Executive
Director of ABC NGO, and Roger, from the BCD Regulatory agency.
Better: “The members of the group included Joe, CEO of XYZ Company; Mary, Executive
Director of ABC NGO; and Roger, from the BCD Regulatory agency. “
If the terms within the series require commas themselves, as do appositional insertions, then
separate the terms with a semicolon. The punctuation makes it clear that three people are named.
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•Mistakes in verb tense
Example: “This was an important decision, and it will be the best choice that matters.”
Better: “This was an important decision, and it was the best choice that mattered.” (changed all
verbs to past tense from a sentence that originally had past, future and present tenses.”
•Mistakes in subject/verb agreement
Example: “The objective of his classes were to
teach us math.”
Better: “The objective of his classes was to teach
us math.”
• Improper citations
Example: “Heiman and Nickerson (2004) state “alliances are never perfect in their execution.”
Better: “Heiman and Nickerson (2004, p. 244) state “alliances are never perfect in their
execution.” (when using someone else’s precise words, give the author, year and the page number
of the words from the source).
More on citations (and references): Generally, use a common format for references at the end of
an assignment (APA is used in this class). Every in-text citation MUST have a corresponding
reference. The main goal of a reference is to allow the reader to actually find the source
document–broadly speaking, focus on providing at least this level information completeness.
•Incorrect word usage or awkward writing
Example: “The strategy doesn’t make sensible.”
Better: “The strategy does not make sense.” (do not use contractions, and choose proper forms of
words (“sense” instead of sensible”).
•Lack of conformity with assignmentformat
Example: The essay assignment given requires the student to disagree with one important aspect of the
reading, but the student does not find anything with which to disagree, so he/she writes a short summary
praising the assigned reading.
Better: Your essay starts with the sentence, “I disagree with the assertion in Chapter 7 that the discrete
organization approach to strategic thinking is inferior to the network perspective.”