Reference no: EM132325081

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. 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. As soon as you make 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 of information collected from these sources.

Step 3: Project outline. Based on the requirements of the paper below, you should develop a project outline detailing the structure of the paper, related information, and sources.

Step 4: Final paper. The final manuscript needs to be professionally written and edited. Each student must submit one copy of the completed final paper to iLearn.

Strategic Analysis Report

A complete analysis of a hospitality company will be made including the overall strategy, 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 

Environmental Analysis 

Overall Strategies and Challenges

Conclusions and Recommendations 

Professional Writing

Recommended Structure of the Paper

1. Cover page

This page should include the project title, course title, name of the student, and submission date.

2. Introduction

Introduce briefly the defining characteristics of the firm, unique background and philosophy of the company, including brief history, some of its outstanding qualities, past successes, failures, and products or services. 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. Environmental analysis

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 external factors that you believe will determine the company's future strategies. In- depth analysis of each external factor is expected to support your recommendations of strategic direction. This section should NOT be a list of the company's current practices or accomplishments. And it should NOT be a comprehensive list of all possible external factors that has little to do with your future strategic directions. For the Internal analysis, include an analysis of resources and capabilities, such as operations, marketing, and/or finance. Please note that this section should focus on analyzing significant internal factors that will have impact on the company's future strategies. In-depth analysis of each significant internal factor is expected. 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. Overall strategy and challenges

Explain what the company's overall corporate, business, and functional strategies (where appropriate) are and explain the company's current overall strategic direction. Discuss and evaluate the strategic problems and challenges that the 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.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Some conclusions should 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 other materials used when preparing this report. 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 references should be about 1,750 to 3,000 words

• The report needs to follow APA style.

• The main body of the paper should 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