Problem Identification

Answer the two questions below

1. Sleepless nights at Holiday Inn Case (Published in Business Week and

adapted in the textbook p. 91-92 for the course)

Just a few years ago, Tom Oliver, the Chief Executive of Holiday Hospitality Crop.,

was struggling to differentiate among the variety of facilities offered for clients

under the Holiday flag - the Holiday Inn Select designed for business travelers,

the Holiday Inn Express used by penny pinchers, and the Crown Plaza Hotels, the

luxurious hotels meant for the big spenders. Oliver felt that revenues could be

quadrupled if only clients could differentiate among these.

Keen on developing a viable strategy for Holiday Hospitality, which suffered from

brand confusion. Tom Olivers conducted a customer survey of those who had used

each type of facility, and found the following. The consumers didn't have a clue as

to the difference among the three different types. Many complained that the

buildings were old and not properly maintained, and the quality rating of service

and other factors were also poor. Furthermore, when word spread that one of the

contemplated strategies of Oliver was a name change to differentiate the three

facilities, irate franchises balked. Their mixed message did not help consumers to

understand the differences, either.

Oliver thought that he first needed to understand how the different classifications

would be important to the several classes of client, and then he could market the

heck out of them and greatly enhance the revenues. Simultaneously, he

recognized that unless the franchises owners fully cooperated with him in all his

plans, mere face-lifting and improvement of customer service would not bring

added revenues.

Answer the following 3 questions dealing with the case above:

1. Identify the problem

2. Develop a research question

3. Select a problem or issues of concerns within a company. Identify the problem

and then develop the problem statement section which includes:

a. The purpose of the study

b. Research questions